anonymous

I have to admit I LOVE FEEDBACK on my blogs. Somehow it makes me feel good. I have a hard time believing people actually read this but for someone to leave feedback is an honor. Even if I don't agree with it, it is still feedback and I enjoy it.

Some people read a post then email me comments. I like that too. Some people read and then call or text me. All this is good and I encourage it (hint, hint).

Those who choose "anonymous" as they leave feedback is a little confusing. When this blog was set up, I chose to allow "anonymous" feedback. I didn't have to but I figure any feedback is better than none. I would hope that people wouldn't use it but that is their choice. But the question looms... Why?

Why do people choose anonymous. Are they not confident to tell who they really are. Do they fear they will be judged or laughed at. Are they not secure enough to allow their comments to be assigned to their name?

My point: I am a fan of "if you say it or do it - own it". I think that you should stand up and be proud of your thoughts and feelings we refer to as feedback. I would rather have "anonymous" feedback than no feedback but get some confidence. I won't judge you. I will still show love.

I think I know who you are anyway, you might as well step up and be proud of your thoughts.

wrong again

The last poll I posted asked you what posed the greater fear. I have to say I am not surprised but I will say you are wrong again.

The real choice was between spiders and snakes. Let me comment on the 2 that were not even close. The person who said the greater fear is "needles" is just a big sissy. You will always have to get shots. You may not enjoy them and if you do, you are some sort of sicko, but to fear needles is silly. You fear the pain they bring you not the actual piece of metal.

The person who said the greater fear is "life without chocolate" is a female. That is all I have to say about that.

Now to clear up the real choice between spiders and snakes. As unpleasant as spiders are, you can squash even the biggest spider with the sole of a boot. Yes, I agree they are pretty freaky and can frighten the mess out of you but to say they scare you more than snakes, I challenge that. You can show me the most wicked spider and I feel pretty confident that I can either squash it or outrun it. The only reason you said "spiders" is because you see them more.

Now, on the other hand. Snakes... they freak you out no matter how big or small. You can see a small snake in the garden and it brings to mind some 4 letter words. The way they slither and glide across any surface is eerie. They are plain freaky. Even the ones that can't bite can squeeze you to death. Even the ones they say are safe... WHATEVER! Safe from what. People who have snakes as pets are, well, lets just say they are different. If you own a snake you probably have lots of tattoos, piercings, wear leather, have a spoon as a bracelet and have a nickname.

My point. If a spider and snake were coming toward you, a boot would take care of one but the other would be slithering up your leg. Spiders are scary but snakes are the greater fear. Congrats to those who got it right this week.

Thanks for participating. Don't get discouraged if you keep getting them wrong. Keep playing and you are bound to get it right sooner or later.

I'm back

I am sure all my regular readers (both of you) have been wondering "where the heck have you been?". I lost the ability to connect to the internet so I apologize for not blogging as frequently as you are used to.

I am sure you have missed all my witty humor and I pledge to make it up to you. I always try to blog at least 3 times a week, so since I missed 2 last week I will blog more to make it up to you. I have so much to blog about, you are in for some really good stuff...

My point: I made a commitment and I will make it right. Thanks for all your concern, cards, letters and cookies. Yeah right, no one even noticed.

Just so you know, this post counts toward my 3 for this week!

who do you listen to?

Marathon time!!! It is finally here. I have done all the mental and physical training that I am gonna do and now it is time to go run this crazy thing. The funny thing is that I actually paid to get to torture myself. I got a shirt out of the deal, that is one expensive shirt.

I am pretty excited about this. It is definitely going to be a challenge but I have convinced myself that I will finish no matter what. Mentally is a pretty big challenge. What am I going to think about for close to 4 hours. I am sure I will pray so what will I do for the next 3 hours and 50 minutes. I will think about pencils, dolphins and chocolate pudding but then what? After I think about everything I can think of, I will be forced to listen.

I am told that my brain (hold the sarcasm) will be sending different messages. The left brain will be telling me to quit, you are too tired, you are hurting, this is crazy, what's the big deal... while my right brain will be singing "the eye of the tiger" over and over to combat the right brain. I have been reading about this battle that everyone has and I have some things rehearsed to say when the left brain starts to dish all the garbage. I said I wanted to do it and now it is time to shut up and do it. I am prepared for the physical battle and the mental battle.

My point: Like anything worth having, it is worth working for. Anything that you work for there is probably going to be someone telling you that it is not achievable. Don't let the one saying the negative things be yourself. You can do it if you want it bad enough.

I picture the devil and an angel on each shoulder. I have to decide who to listen to... So do you!!!

I gotchu

My 2 year old continues to teach me a lot. She loves climbing and playing on the playground and she seems fearless. She seems that way until she is confronted with uncertainty.

She will just run ahead of me and start climbing on something even if she doesn't know if she can navigate it. She gets as far as she can and then looks to me. She looks with a panic and then starts calling for me. When there is a possibility for injury, I am always close so she can usually reach me.

I began encouraging her to climb some things she shouldn't be able to climb. She would get into the climb and then start to panic a little. I would put my hand on her and calmly tell her "I got you". She would then refocus and finish the climb. From then on she would get to a point of fear and whisper to herself "I gotchu, I gotchu". She really didn't even need to see me or hear me, she would just say it to herself and keep going.

I thought this is how we adults are in our lives. We face uncertainty and get scared and want to stop so we don't experience the fear or pain. Sometimes all we need is a little encouragement from our Father. Simply knowing that He is there and sometimes reminding ourselves that He has a plan and purpose for our lives, or that He will never leave us, is enough to keep us moving forward. I have found myself on many occasions reminding myself of something that my Heavenly Father has spoken through His word. There are many we can choose to recall but the key is having heard them in order to remind ourselves of them.

My point: We have to know His words before we can recall them. We will all face uncertainty. What we do when that happens is up to us. We can choose to allow the fear to paralyze us and keep us from moving forward or we can remind ourselves that we are not alone and that our Heavenly Father has us. If we are not spending time listening to His promises then when we get in a place where we are confronted with fear, we will listen to the negative thoughts we are having. We will live in fear and never move forward.

Allow your Heavenly Father to whisper to you "I gotchu!!!"

100%

The last poll asked if you are happy with your physical appearance. It was 100% "NO". That is the first poll that everyone agreed on. I am not sure what to think of this but that won't stop me from commenting...

I may have a very large audience. I don't mean a lot of people, I mean a group of people that are large. Since I know some of the people that read this blog, I am going to say that is not the case.

Maybe the people who read my blog misunderstood the question... not a chance.

It is quite possible that no matter how good we look, there is always something we wish could be different/better. I think that is it. Is that bad? I don't think so, as long as it is does not become an unhealthy obsession. If we are going to great, unhealthy, lengths to change our physical appearance, it is not good. Not eating thinking you will lose weight is dumb. Eating only to throw it up is equally dumb. Eating all junk and hoping to lose weight is really dumb.

The good thing is that we can change the way we look. We can do it in a healthy way. If we start eating some of the things in the picture we may be able to put on the smile and say we are happy with our physical appearance.

My point: If you don't like it, change it. Make a plan and stick to it. Find an accountability partner and let them help you. Your physical appearance is 100% your responsibility.

If you would like to talk about this further, we can go out for pizza and ice cream...

busted

Thursday night I got pulled over for speeding. I was driving to speak at a youth retreat and I had to pass through some towns that are not even on the map. Just because they are not on the map doesn't mean they don't have police.

I was cruising along listening to some good leadership stuff trying to follow the directions, eat and text all at the same time. With all I was doing, I guess I forgot to look at my speedometer. I guess to be honest, even if I would've looked at it, I wouldn't have slowed down. I was running late and needed to make up some time.

I saw a police officer coming at me so that is when I decided to look at my speed. I was going a little over 65. I had no idea what the speed limit was so I slammed on the brakes. It didn't work. The policeman pulled me over and informed me that the limit is 55. He asked me where I was going and I pulled the "I am a pastor going to speak at a youth retreat". He asked me if I was going to say nice things about him tonight. I said it depends on what happens in the next couple minutes... He wrote me a ticket.

I was TICKED!!! I don't have the money to pay a stupid speeding ticket. Then I realized that it was 100% MY FAULT. I was in total control of my speed. I guess in reality I knew I was breaking the law but I thought I could get away with it. I was wrong. The officer was only doing his job. I couldn't be mad at him. I could only be mad at myself.

My Point: We need to do what is right even when we don't think anyone is looking. I think this is called "integrity". We are still breaking the law or sinning when we don't get caught by someone. I always tell my daughter to "do what is right because it is right". I guess I should take my own advice.

If it were a female cop, I would've totally got out of it, I was looking good that night...

baptized

Today was a great day. Not only because it is Sunday and I absolutely love being at C3 church, but because we had 3 people baptized in water.

I am always honored to be part of that very significant event in any persons life but today I got the honor of baptizing my 11 year old daughter Shayna. It was amazing being part of that. This is something she will always remember as part of her Christian journey. I think it made it more special having her daddy do it but I want her to remember it for the right reasons.

I explained to her that baptism is an outward expression of an inward decision. Shayna wanted to be baptized in water out of obedience. I am very proud of her.

I love being part of my children's lives. It always blows my mind to see parents who have nothing to do with their kids. Any significant event that happens in my kids lives, I want them to remember that I was there. She might not realize this now, but when she is older I want her to be able to look back and say "wow, daddy was ALWAYS there".

My point: enjoy the journey. If you have children - make sure you are actively involved in their lives or you will regret it when they are grown. Shayna is 11 and I can't believe how fast those years have gone. Your children may not fully understand or appreciate you being there now but I honestly believe they will cherish those memories when they are grown.

I can't wait to be part of my other daughters' first day of school, water baptisms and weddings... ok, now I am crying!!!

WRONG!!!

When someone does something unexpected a lot of times I may say "I don't even know who you are!"

Well, to those of you who read this blog (all 3 of you), I guess "I don't even know who you are!"

I thought the poll question about the best sitcom was a gimme, a no brainer, a stone cold lead pipe lock, a slam dunk (you get the picture). I guess it wasn't. I have to say I am very surprised and shocked. This one was supposed to be unanimous. It wasn't even supposed to be close.

I was blown away. I guess I just have to say: If you voted for anything other than Seinfeld, YOU ARE WRONG!!! I may be able to hear somewhat of an intelligent argument for Friends but Everybody loves Raymond.? C'MON - not even close. Not even in the same ballpark.

Friends was funny at times but it got old quick. Raymond was a joke, I just needed to have a multiple choice so I added one that would be ridiculously lame.

My point: Seinfeld is without question the funniest sitcom EVER, period!!! Friends may be funny but there is not a situation in life that Seinfeld didn't cover. It influenced culture like no other. To everyone who voted, thank you. To everyone who voted for anything other than Seinfeld - YOU ARE WRONG - I don't even know who you are.

People that didn't even watch Seinfeld knows lines from the show. Everything from "no soup for you", "not that there is anything wrong with that", "master of my domain", even the way Jerry greeted Newman ( you know you just said it in your head)

reach it

Hannah recently turned 2. As a little red head, I am not sure that I notice a difference now that she should be at the "terrible 2" stage.

Her new thing is to see an airplane and say "airplane" followed by "reach it". When we are out at night, she will see the moon and say "reach it". I have no idea where she picked this up but she really gets upset when you don't just reach up thousands of miles and grab the aircraft and moon out of the sky. I do everything I can to divert her attention but she is adamant about wanting to "reach it".

I LOVE that this child is already reaching for things way beyond her. She doesn't know that it is impossible. No one can tell her that she can't do it. She says it every time she sees a plane or the moon. Eventually she may stop trying to "reach it" and that will be a sad day.

That got me thinking about my life. Am I reaching for something that others say can't be reached? If not, why?

We had an advisory board meeting and discussed C3 ten years from now. It seems like we are reaching for the moon but that is a great thing. We realize that if we can reach it on our own, it is not big enough. We need to continue to have a "God sized" vision for His church. We may be trying things that others perceive as out of our reach but we believe it is within God's reach. We will not stop reaching for the things that are out of our grasp. If we can accomplish our dreams on our own, they are not big enough.

My point: Dream. Reach for things that may seem impossible. Never stop trying to "reach it" when you know it is what God wants for you. Don't allow others to tell you that it is out of reach and definitely don't tell others they can't "reach it". Help them, don't hinder them.

What are you trying to reach? If you can reach it on your own, it isn't big enough. DREAM BIG!!!