my love...

I don't have much to say right now, but my good friend Chris took this picture of Laynie and I think it's awesome...We were praying at a baptism and she was on my shoulders. I know, I'm bias...........i don't care.

I also love my sister-in-law VERY much.

the wisdom of my friend...

this morning i meet with john fooshee to talk about my talents and strenghts and how to develop and utilize them to the max. there is something serious going on in my life right now, but i can't explain it. and when i can't explain it, john seems to help put the pieces together in a real, personable, friendly way. i was instructed to come up with 15 things in my life, from birth to the present, that i have BOTH loved AND been good at. i came up with 10:

1. Basketball
2. Friendships/ Relationships
3. Words- Reading- Language
4. Communication
5. Competition
6. Acting/ Drama/ Characters
7. Being a dad
8. Being a husband
9. Youth Ministry
10. Discipleship

oh, well. so we met, talked and he asked questions about the stories behind each one of the ten things. here's are some of the themes we came up with, from a simple conversation:

Themes: I am drawn to the challenge of being involved in people's lives.
I most desire to understand people for the purpose of helping them live life to the full.

We also came up with some environments I thrive in: Team, High Energy, Group environments where I'm up front so that I can build into lives one-on- one later, places where the coach or leader values me over the task at hand, and being outside. more on this later...

God in my shower...

In my life, it seems the only still, quiet place is the shower. And so I've been trying to meditate on things above while I'm washing. Acouple nights ago, God showed up and laid on my mind a question that Lensey told me she asked Laynie today. The answer is what got me, though. They were driving around and Laynie was asking 1,000 questions, (she's 2 and a half) and Lens said, "Where are all these questions coming from?!" Laynie thought for a minute and then said, "Ummm, they're coming from God."
And so God started teaching me in the shower.
If God is giving my little girl questions, my response shouldn't be impatience or frustration, because that shows her I'm not interested in what she' interested in. No, my responsibility is to see that God is giving me opportunities to point my daughter to Him! By answering her questions (even if I don't know the answer) I'm teaching her that God, and me are interested in everything in her little world and we will always be available to listen to her and answer her questions.
Is that not how God feels towards us? We question, we doubt, we inquire and He sits, listens, answers, and responds with compassion and love.
Thank you God for showing me something new about You in the shower. Grant me the brains to remember this forever. May You use this experience some day for Your glory.

Another shot...

So i'm going to give this blogging thing another shot and see how it goes. If I truly suck at it and you are really my friend, you'll tell me...and I'll stop. Read if you dare.

Thoughts on Forgiveness...

we forgive others because God forgave us. but we have the curse of sin. so it is only through our faith in jesus that we have the power to forgive. our finite minds cannot fathom the depth of God's love for us. we understand only what we have experienced ourselves. i feel i have experienced God's forgiveness through other people. my past caused pain and hurt to those closest to me, and yet they always received me with open arms. never questioning. never ridiculing. never judging or preaching. just loving me.

how did they get to that point? that understanding of love. did they experience it themselves? i know that they were forever praying for me; lifting me up to God. total trust, man. total trust.

so by the example of forgiveness that they gave, i came to deeper understanding of just how deep the Father's love for us truly is. so many times over and over, the devil tricks us into thinking we can forgive on our own. that we have the capacity in our souls to forgive. to trust. to completely forget. on our own. with no help.

reality is the foot of the cross. that connection that we have through faith in what the cross represents is all we've got. do we dare say we need anyhting else? how do you tell students this and expect them to understand when the only way you have understanding is through God's graceful giving of Jesus? Ephesians 6 says "out of His glorious riches", His unlimited resources do we obtain the strength to forgive, to love. may we continue to experience God as to be "filled to the measure" of of His fullness.

Laynie and Daddy day...

Fridays are "Laynie and daddy" days at our house. There is nothing I look forward to more than hanging out with Laynie on Fridays. We go shopping for new tennis shoes, go to "Donalds" (her name for McD's), go visit Mee-Mee (my mom) and pet the horses, read books, play with toys and swing and play in the backyard.

I think God teaches me more about Himself and my part in His story on "Fridays" than any other time during the week. This week, I was thinking about how much Laynie trusts me for everything in her life. When we go somewhere, she trusts that I am not going to leave her there; when we go outside to play, she stays close because she knows I am going to protect her and show her a good time and teach her all about outside and all the wonderful things that are available to her. It makes me think of our faith and helps me understand how I am to be with my Father: totally dependent, joyful in all things, engaged in His Word, ever mindful of His beauty in creation.

Another thing I learned from my daughter today is the joy it brings to peoples lives when you take the time to look them in the eye, acknowledge they are alive and simply say hello. No matter where we go on Fridays, Laynie is always saying "hi" to people. We pass people going into Target, she says hello; walking down the aisles, "HI"; pull up to the cash register, "hi" and "bye". She is setting an example. Witht the faith of a child, there are no judgements, no insecurities, no qualms about what they will think about her. She just simply sees them as people like her who NEED to be talked to, recognized, LOVED.

I don't know...

I don't know why I am doing this. I have friends on this thing that write hilarious, thought provoking and sometimes useless things. My friends Johnny and Beth T have a blog and it needs to be published, it is that good. My hopes are that this can be another way to join in community with those people that I never get to see, but am connected to by the Cross; that it might be another "tool" to engage in the lives of people I don't know but love just because they are. Maybe we can do life together sometime...