Workin' From Home

My chain of command is comprised of men who care about their people. So, with the ugly weather we are having in the St Louis area, they had our team work from home today. Having a VPN connection into AT&T's network is SWEET! So today, I sat in my PJs and worked a while. Then, Vange, Griffin, and I went to lunch (El Torrero).

Relationships are a HUGE deal to God, and they should be a huge deale to us. It was nice today to just spend time with my wife and "baby" boy. Every once in a while, I'd get up from my desk and chase Griffin around the house. I offered to chase Vnge around - she declined :-(

Side note: I'm pumped about this weekend.... it's a bit funny. We are going to be talking about slowing down and hearing God's voice this Sunday at LifePoint. When Bob and I were planning the journey for the day, we decided that the music for the day would remain HIGH ENERGY.

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / family / and friends with every word and every action.

I Know I'll Be In Trouble For This...

Some things are best not shared... others, well, I just can't pass this up. When I saw this I cracked up; especially since I work in a Tech Support environment.

Dear Tech Support: Last year I upgraded from Girlfriend 7.0 to Wife 1.0. I soon noticed that the new program began unexpected child processing that took up a lot of space and valuable resources. In addition, Wife 1.0 installed itself into all other programs and now monitors all other system activities, such as Poker Night 10.3, Football 5.0, and Softball 3.6 I can't seem to keep Wife 1.0 in the background while attempting to run my other favorite applications. I'm thinking about going back to Girlfriend 7.0 , but the uninstall doesn't work on Wife 1.0. Please help! Thanks, Troubled User.....

REPLY: Dear Troubled User: This is a very common problem that men often complain about. Many people upgrade from Girlfriend 7.0 to Wife 1.0, thinking that it is just a Utilities and Entertainment program. Wife 1.0 is an OPERATING SYSTEM and is designed by its Creator to run EVERYTHING!!! It is also impossible to delete Wife 1.0 and to return to Girlfriend 7.0 . It is impossible to uninstall, or purge, the program files from the system once installed. You cannot go back to Girlfriend 7.0 because Wife 1.0 is designed to not allow this. Look in your Wife 1.0 manual under Warnings: Alimony-Child Support . I recommend that you keep Wife 1.0 and work on improving the situation. I suggest installing the background application Yes Dear 2.7 to alleviate your program problems. The best course of action is to enter the command C:\APOLOGIZE! because ultimately you will have to give the APOLOGIZE command before the system will return to normal anyway. Wife 1.0 is a great program, but it tends to be very high maintenance! Wife 1.0 does come with several support programs, such as Clean and Sweep 3.0, Cook It 1.5, and Do Bills 4.2 However, be very careful how you use these programs. Improper use will cause the system to launch the program Nag Nag 9.5 Once this happens, the only way to improve the performance of Wife 1.0 is to purchase additional software. I recommend Flowers 2.1 and Diamonds 5.0 WARNING!!! DO NOT, under any circumstances, install Cute Secretary 3.3 . This application is not supported by Wife 1.0 and will cause irreversible damage to the operating system! Best of luck, Tech Support

Moral of the story? UPGRADE WISELY!!!

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

Nothin'

Day too crazy... Can't post.... Be back tomorrow

Lifegroup Trash Talkin'

Last night was our first lifegroup hangout since we took a big group and sent it to 2 separate locations. It was a great night.... Lots of laughs, lots of encouragement, lots of honesty... We really are helping each other stay on the right path in our journey with God. (Quick ADD prayer: God, through US be the REMEDY.)

It was Mexican night last night.... Wow, Mexican candy is HOT! But at least we had 40 tacos (yes, 40) from Jack in the box to make everyone happy.... I'm having my cholesterol checked later.... Scary!

On with the trash talkin'..... We have determined (via very scientific means) that our Lifegroup is the absolute BEST! That's right baby.... We have an incredible mix of people who are learning how to best Love God and Love People. So, we are going to issue a Fear Factor challenge to the other Lifegroups at LifePoint Church. We'll be getting details out to the loser, I mean less great, Lifegroups.... All we have to say is BRING IT! What does that mean? It means that Dan, Jeff, John, Kyle, and Bob will need to prime their groups for some COMPETITION! (Our group will go a bit easy on Dan's group because they are our partner group..... but not TOO easy...)

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

Volleyball - Engage

I got to catch the last part of my girls' volleyball game yesterday. The girls' team was victorious, winning 2 of the 3 games. Then we all went to Fazoli's to eat. Our whole family went, along with some close friends. The game itself was very cool, some long volleys, some great skill. Fazoli's is always a winner too. But the thing that was so cool was that I learned some stuff:

• Dawson (my 5 year old son) is nearly uncontrollable when he has been eating sugar all day
• Haley has a great serve.... now that she steps forward on the correct foot
• Sam earned some bragging rights by scoring on his son, Ian, in indoor soccer
• Emily walked a tightrope.... several girls in her youth group play for Coolidge. She teaches at Alton... the game was Coolidge vs. Alton AT ALTON
• Kyle, myself, Dawson, and Griffin were burning up!! Alton is not afraid of the furnace!
• My wife, Vange, is as beautiful as ever!
• Ashli will be a GREAT mother some day.... like when she is 30!
• Nikki and Baylin want to be tied in to a Lifegroup at LifePoint.
• Cheri, my niece, heads back to Belgium today to reunite with her husband.
• Becky, my sister-in-law is directionally challenged (so am I).

What does all that mean? Take time and effort to engage the people in your life. It's OK to share stuff about yourself. It is also very beneficial to truly be interested in THEM. Talk about stuff, pray about stuff, don't be afraid to have a different opinion, take walks together, take your motorcycles out on the river road (Keith... I feel the wind now), scrapbook and go to the movies... or just go to the movies (you know who you are). Go to your kids' games, or go to your friends' games, invite people for dinner.

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

NASCAR Returns

I have plans Sunday. Haley and I are watching the Daytona 500. NASCAR's 2008 season opens this weekend.... I'm pumped! (I know.... that scares some of you....) We are big Jimmie Johnson fans... Go #48!! I happened to catch a commercial that cracked me up... especially because I'm not a big Tony Stewart (#20) fan.... Check this out:




Jeremy Mayfield (one of Stewart's competitors) is the guy controlling the truck. I love it!

Side note: no soda yet.... my Lent commitment is still in tact.

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

Lent - Who's idea was this?

I'm already getting crabby.... Coca-Cola is going to wonder why their sales are down! I'm giving up soda for Lent (a couple of guys I work with think it's wrong to disclose what you are giving up for Lent based on Matthew 6:16-18... but I'm just being real...). I was Challenged by a blog from Bob Robbins (LifePoint Lead Pastor) to create opportunities to be reminded of Christ's sacrifice for us. On a daily (almost hourly) basis, I will have the chance to focus on Jesus because of soda denial. Isn't that the goal? For me it is. We are singing a worship song this weekend at LifePoint called From The Inside Out (Hillsong United). Here are a few of the lyrics that hit home for me.... deeply:

Your will above all else, my purpose remains
The art of losing myself in brining You praise.....

In my heart in my soul I give You control
Consume me from the inside out, Lord....

.... And the cry of my heart is to bring You praise
From the inside out

What can you DO to intentionally tighten your relationship with Jesus?

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

Planning Ahead

This may scare you, but I'm looking 7 weeks ahead to Easter. Part of what I do at LifePoint is design and lead the worship sets. Easter is a huge deal. (I actually agree with my Dad who says "I celebrate Easter every day of my life...") I've been doing some digging for some songs that will be an excellent fit for Easter Sunday. Some of them we already do at LifePoint, and some of them would be new. I thought I'd share some of these songs with you. If you get a chance, pull some of these up on YouTube or iTunes and take a test drive.

• Arise - Paul Baloche
• Happy Day - Tim Hughes
• Jesus Paid It All - Passion / Kristian Stanfill
• Lord I Lift Your Name On High - Lincoln Brewster
• Mighty To Save - Hillsong United
• My Redeemer Lives - Hillsong
• Shout Your Fame - Hillsong
• Take It All - Hillsong United

Side note: I dug up some Christian Rock from "back in my day" and have been JAMMIN all morning! This stuff is from 1989 and 1992:

• WHITEHEART - Freedom
• ALLIES - Man With A Mission

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

Remedy

Great news! My God continues to wrap His arms around his kids....... I just got off the phone with a good friend of mine whose daughter has faced serious health issues her whole life. In the last few weeks, there has been positive movement in her body. Today, she is doing better than she has in the last 2 years, and her treatments have been cut in half! Yesterday at LifePoint we sang a new song from David Crowder called "Remedy." Check out these lyrics:

Here we are Here we are
Bandaged and bruised Awaiting a cure
Here we are
Here You are Here You are
Our beautiful King, Bringing relief
Here You are with us

Oh I can't comprehend, I can't take it all in
Never understand such perfect love come
For the broken and beat, the wounded and weak
Oh come fall at His feet He's the remedy He's the remedy

Yep, that brings tears to my eyes when I think about God's impact in our everyday life. I love hearing good stories.... and sharing them!

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and evey action.

Paperwork

Yuk! I've spent a good amount of time today trying to get my boys' soccer team registered for the 2008 season. This includes driving by the parents' houses to get documents and signatures.... and a ton of..... wait for it....... that's right....... PAPERWORK! Rosters, waivers, registrations, Oh My! This is what it looks like when I'm doing paperwork.....












It's all worth it though..... The boys have a blast!

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

Stealing a Blog

A fellow LifePointer had an incredible blog a few days ago..... So, I'm stealing Kim's blog and posting it here. Check this out.



I wonder what would happen if we treated our Bible like we treat our cellphone?
What if we carried it around in our purses or pockets?
What if we flipped through it several time a day?
What if we turned back to go get it if we forgot it?
What if we used it to receive messages from the text?
What if we treated it like we couldn’t live without it?
What if we gave it to kids as gifts?
What if we used it when we traveled?
What if we used it in case of emergency?
This is something to make you go… hmm… where is my Bible?
Oh, and one more thing. …
Unlike our cell phone, we don’t have to worry about our Bible beingdisconnected because Jesus already paid the bill.
Makes you stop and think “where are my priorities?”
And no dropped calls!





























Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action!

Goin' Back

I was looking through my CD collection last night (at least it was not my TAPE collection, or even worse..... my RECORD collection....). I grabbed a few CDs I have not heard for a while and listened to them today. There is some really good stuff, and some stuff that I now remember why I haven't listened to it lately... here is the stuff:

• Eric Johnson - Alien Love Child-Live and Beyond
• Phil Keaggy - 220
• The Normals - Better Than This
• Clear - Clear
• Phil Keaggy - Time 1 (1970-1993)

What old stuff do you have that when you listen to it, it takes you to another time or chapter in your life? Dig that stuff out... and turn it UP!

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

Wakeboarding

It was 76 degrees here yesterday.... and the Boat Show is in town this weekend. We NEVER miss a boat show. I just got to thinking about being on the water again. We have a Mastercraft Maristar 200 VRS tow boat.... LOVE IT! With the kids, we mainly tube behind the boat.... but occasionally I like to try my skills on the wakeboard. Since both my knees have been rebuilt (ACL reconstructions) I'm a bit leary of going ALL IN on the stunts. I found this crash reel for some wakeboarding.... It looks a lot like me.... especially the actual crashing parts!




Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

Great Weekend

This weekend was super busy, but great anyway. Friday night we got to hang with some friends and eat at El Torrero..... one of our favorite places! The snow gave me a change to make a few extra $$.... I have a snow plow and snow blowers..... LifePoint had 170+ people for the 2nd week in a row. Sunday afternoon our house was filled with friends and family as we had a small group meeting after church. That was followed by a few other people coming to hang out for SuperBowl 42. The best part..... The Giants beat the Patriots!! Haley (my Daddy's Girl) and I have now become Giants fans!! Time to get back to work.... This Sunday we are wrapping up the ALL IN series at LifePoint, and I'm busy charting the newest worship song we are going to introduce this weekend (it goes great with Sunday's message): David Crowder's "Remedy."

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

Mother's love

There is stuff that a mom can get away with that noone else can... You know... when the kid's face is dirty and mom basically spits on her fingers and rubs the dirt off...... Well, in that spirit, Vange pulled a doozy today. The kids were going out to play in the snow.... Since their hands always get cold, she decided to take some socks and cut fingers out of them. So, the socks went all the way up their arms to keep the snow off their hands. Sweet!

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

Somethin' to shoot for

Most people have that person, group, or team that they want to be like. While my truest goal is to be exactly what God wants me to be, I do have people that provide a pattern for me.... One of those areas is leading worship. There are many great worship leaders... and I think they are great for different reasons. There are guys who rock, but still focus heavily on who God is.... Jeff Deyo is great at this. There are people who are very artistic and expressive.... guys like David Crowder. There are those who are great at following the sweet spirit of God and helping people follow that leading... girls like Darlene Zschech. There are bands that bring incredible energy to the art of worship... bands like Fusebox and Kutless. There are the top notch musicians bringing praise to God through their instruments... guys like Lincoln Brewster. The house band at 722 is another favorite for just all-around connection of people to God. I was watching a Hillsong United DVD tonight and thought "Man, if there is anybody who does the worship experience with excellence, it is this team!" Joel Houston and Marty Sampson are gifted and annointed leaders..... These guys give me something to shoot for.



Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

Taking Advice

I am blessed that God has placed so many quality people in my path.... People who genuinely care about me. I had a chance to hang out with one of those friends recently. We got talking about the approach I have been taking in one of the areas that I get a chance to influence people. He offered some ideas that may help me do things in a way that would better benefit people. I felt very comforted and took the advice to heart. For me, this was a simply spiritual moment: Proverbs 23:12 says Listen to instruction and do your best to learn.

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

172 - Yeah Baby!

Went to the Doc yesterday... got PLEURISY.... it SUCKS! That's why it kills me to sneeze and cough. Doc hooked me up with lots of drugs.... Big Dog drugs too! Should be feeling better soon.

So, yesterday I mentioned that there were some positives to what was an overall crappy weekend for me.

1. 7 youth from DRIVEN went to Winter-Jam (I went too). Watching their interaction was very cool! (Although I think they may have been sleeping during MercyMe.) Taking a youth group to McDonald's late on a school night is always a treat! Continue to build those relationships.....
2. Sunday morning, LifePoint had 172 people in attendance. That is huge! There were 3 brand new families this weekend. People are being relocated to the Glen Carbon / Edwardsville, IL area for their career, and they are finding LifePoint on the web!

My fingers still hurt... so I'm done for now.....

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / family / and friends with every word and every action.

Goin' to the Doc

OK - The sick thing keeps kickin' my butt! I'm getting ready to leave work early and go to my doctor.... I'm fearing I have a touch of "PEW-MONIA". The weekend was a tough one... and on top of that... Winter-Jam was a disappointment.... (which could be partially due to me feeling like crud!) (Side note: Skillet Rocks!) There were some positives though.... they are for tomorrow's blog.... my fingers hurt!

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and friends with every word and every action.

Sick

I feel terrible. This is what my blog looks like when I feel terrible.

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

Date Night - Revisited

OK - so our wives, and our friends (Brooke), are concerned about the boys hanging out on Tuesdays. We have a plan.... spend more time with our wives.... and continue solving world problems during Tuesday's Date Night. Sound good? (The best solutions are usually the simple ones....) Last night, Dan, Kyle, Alan, and I hung out. Here is the list of important activities we accomplished:

• Ordered food


• Discussed possible service times for LifePoint


• Helped Lauren (the waitress) work through her anger


• Ate food


• Talked extensively about midgets..... don't know why


• Got several soda refills


• Solved world hunger - told noone..... not really


• Left a huge tip

It was a good night.

Live loud, live intentionally, and love GOD / Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

Friday Night Prep

LifePoint started using a new presentation software package this weekend... By the way, it was SWEET! So, anytime there is a shift in the tech world for LifePoint, it requires some preparation and attention to detail. This is what an exciting Friday night looks like when we are gearing up for an incredible Sunday morning journey.

There are a lot of people that work hard to make LifePoint a great place to connect with God. I continue to learn that anything worthwhile takes EFFORT and PREPARATION! Don't play safe... go ALL IN and see what God does because of your obedience!!

Side note: coming soon..... great shots of cool outfits.... maybe even a neat BAND HAT!

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action!

Hold Your Breath

OK - try this little experiment. Hold your breath as long as you can.... go ahead, I'll wait. Did anyone pass out? No? Maybe you aren't trying hard enough.... just kidding. Did you notice your body's sense of urgency for you to breathe? Air is critical for life. Yep, you can make it for a short time without air, but eventually you pass out, or even worse.... DIE. There is a song we sing at LifePoint called The Air I Breathe. Several artists have recorded it... Rebecca St James has my favorite version. The song metaphorically refers to Jesus as the air that we breathe. It goes on to state that "I'm desperate for You.... I'm lost without You."

What would happen if we treated our relationship with God / Jesus as that critical? To be honest, I'm just another screwed up guy... but I'm becoming more and more intentional about my journey with my savior; about every action I take and everything I say. I've had to be very real with Jesus the last few days.... The prayers have went something like this: "Jesus, today I'll have the opportunity to make you smile by what I do. I'll also have the chance to screw up by @&*$%#((&$%^! Please help me make wise decisions today that keep me far from making sinful choices. Thanks. Talk to You later.)

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

DRIVEN

I got the chance to hang out at LifePoint's youth service last night. It is called DRIVEN. Last night was the first time that the DRIVEN band got to play live..... I was super stoked! They did great! After the band finished, Kyle (the youth pastor) talked about facing your fears... He challenged the kids to find an opportunity this week and overcome a fear by acting with boldness, understanding that boldness comes from God. Good stuff!!

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

DATE NIGHT

Every Tuesday night, a group of guys go hang out at Applebee's in Edwardsville near SIUE. Our wives call it "date night".... and they are a bit concerned actually..... We have been building a relationship with one of the waitresses. We've talked about silly stuff, relationships, her boyfriend, our wives, fights at the bowling alley, LifePoint..... She is a graphic artist, so we have been taking in the series cards from LifePoint for her to see.... and talking about maybe her doing some art stuff for the church. I look forward to the Sunday that her boyfriend and her pop in on a service at LifePoint and start a life changing journey.

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

American Idol Returns

We've been bitten by the American Idol bug..... Vange, Ashli, Haley, and I love to Tivo AI and watch it together with some popcorn and a good cold Coke. I wish they would condense the"horrible / idiots" section to just one night and get on with the talented people.... but that's just me. Have fun, and remember, just because they are CALLED American Idols does not mean they are to be worshipped.....

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

No Way

A good friend sent me this video compilation of humorous things that have happened at church.

LifePoint had a bit of humor this weekend also..... one of the set design pieces that was hanging from the ceiling fell while Bob was speaking..... Gotta laugh sometimes.

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

Crazy Mac

Friday nights are made for FUN! I got home tonight and the family was playin' with Photo Booth on the Mac. Here is my crazy family.




Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action

Let Love In

So many times I say or do something that contradicts my basic values in living by Godly principles. So, I ask myself (all the time) am I looking for ways to be like Jesus to those around me? In the Bible there is a story (Matthew 25:31-46) about taking notice of people in need... and actually doing something about it. On top of that, what is my attitude like to my wife and kids in simple everyday life? Ephesians 4:32 says "Be kind and loving to each other, and forgive each other just as God forgave you in Christ." One of the principles that we are teaching our kids (over and over) is to treat others the way you would like to be treated. Romans 12:10 - "Love each other like brothers and sisters. Give each other more honor than you want for yourselves." Matthew 7:12 says "Do to others what you want them to do to you. This is the meaning of the law of Moses and the teaching of the prophets."

So what will our world look like when we really allow these Christian lifestyle principles to flow out of our everyday life? Let's find out. Let Love in.

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

Addicted

No great revelation today, no analogies, no video clips...... Today I got to work from home. I got to just be around my wife, Vange, and youngest son, Griffin. I got to feed my addiction. Yep, the more I'm around them, the more I want to be around them.... all of them.... my family that is.... (...and Kyle & Emily..... :-) This is what a guy looks like when he is working from home and realizes all he is blessed with:



Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action!

Air Guitar Hero

I've tried Guitar Hero a couple times... not so good...... I actually play real guitar... And I think I'm getting messed up on GH because I have only tried the EASY setting. I'm hearing more than is showing on the screen.... Maybe I should try a harder setting. My argument may not hold water though.... David, the guitar player at LifePoint, was smokin' the first time he played GH. Oh well... I think I've found my solution.... Check this out:



Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

Influence

This past Sunday, Bob was talking about investing in key relationships. One statement he made was "We all influence people - is your influence positive or negative?" If you are a Christ follower, do you take effort to engage people who are not like you? Do you have only Christian friends, hang out in only Christian bookstores, use a Christian auto mechanic, attend only Christian concerts? Check out the 4 Gospels in the Bible (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) and get an idea of the kinds of people that Jesus engaged and the places he went. Check out Matthew 9:9-13.

The relationship with Jesus is the most incredible thing I've experienced... and I would love to infect others with that opportunity. If you are part of a local church, think about this: When unchurched people walk through the doors of your church, do everything you can to show them applicable principles from God's word. If we simply regurgitate lifeless, theological points, they will shed you like sun-scorched skin. Spend time with real, normal, unchurched people. Understand their perspectives, their needs, and be a part of life-change.



Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

Game Night (DORK)

OK... I've never claimed to be that smart..... Here is the story. Vange, Ashli, Haley and I decided to play Scategories last night. It was my first time, so I was slowly soaking it in. Basically, in the game you must name several different things from listed categories that all start with the same letter. On our second round, the letter was "C" and a few of the questions were:

• Name a famous female


• Name a character in the Bible


• Name a junk food

You get the idea. Well I started off great... Chelsea Clinton. The rest of my answers started with P, not C. I have no idea why. On round 3, the letter was "A". Haley helped me out by adding the huge "A" to the top of my answer sheet for that round. I am a DORK! We had a lot of fun though, we laughed and played well together.

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action!

Mentor

Do you have someone in your life who has really shown you the ropes in one area (or many areas) of life? In the last few days I've had the chance to do a couple of home improvement things in other people's homes. One of them asked me "Where did you learn to do all this stuff?" I've had the benefit of a mentor in my life that has shown me how to do a lot of stuff.... automotive stuff, home repair and improvement stuff, sound reinforcement stuff, business relationship stuff, and how to critically think about what is happening in your environment (intuition). G, thanks for all you do! Invest HEAVILY in PEOPLE and accept readily their investment in you!

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action!

Christmas Card

I was hanging out at a friend's last night and saw a Christmas card that cracked me up. I was trying to chuckle under my breath, but that did not really work. Check this out:

The caption reads: If Santa had named the reindeer while drinking Nog...


In case you can't read the reindeer names, they are:
The Brown Dude
Horn Head
Stinky Butt
Spot
Horn Head #2
Lloyd
Poopy
Horn Head #2 (Yes, there are 2 named Horn Head #2)


Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

Be a Leader

As much as I dislike reading, I love knowledge. I bought this book a year ago at the Catalyst Conference in Atlanta. I just started reading it a few days ago. John Maxwell teaches how to be an effective leader at every level of an organization. I'm looking forward to gaining much insight from this book.... which may take about 6 months for me to read......

Keep this in mind: We will have opportunities to exercise influence in all directions: UP (to the boss or your leader), ACROSS (among your peers or equals), and DOWN (to those you lead).

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

Chillin

Friday night..... the boys are in bed...... Haley is at a friends...... and Vange, Ashli and I are armed with snacks and a movie!

Do you KNOW your mate?

We tend to focus on our own needs and desires. Becoming a great spouse comes easily when our goal is to be more like Christ. Keep in mind that you and your spouse (or partner) may SEE the world differently. So, take time to LEARN what his/her needs and desires are. Try this little test.

So how well do you know your partner? How many of the following do you know?

• I can name my partner's best friends.
• I know what stresses my partner currently faces.
• I know some of my partner's life dreams.
• I am very familiar with my partner's religious beliefs.
• I can list the relatives my partner likes least.
• I know my partner's favorite music.
• I know what my partner would do if he/she won the lottery.
• I know a stressful thing that happened to my partner in childhood.
• I ask my partner how things are going.
• I feel my partner knows me well.

If you answered yes to several, you're on the right track. If not, take time to learn more about what makes your spouse/partner "tick."

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

Quality Time

GOOD GOOGLY-MOOGLY! Christmas day has passed for another year. Actually, I celebrate God's gift of Jesus (life) to me EVERY DAY! Did you do it? You know.... Sing Happy B-Day, resolve frictions, spend quality time, be kind to someone, be thankful for God's gifts, and give gifts with a God-like attitude???????? I actively succeeded at every one of these goals.

We had great family time during the Christmas holidays. I have 3 families and they are all very special to me.... The Brown gang, the James gang, and the LifePoint gang. I truly enjoyed spending time with all!

Side note... my wife is God's most incredible gift to me! ( I also have awesome kids.... but don't tell them how crazy about them I am, they will just get big heads.... :-)

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

Merry Christmas!

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas. Remember a few things....

• Sing Happy Birthday to Jesus (After all, He is the reason for our celebration.)
• Resolve those little frictions with others... it makes the season much more enjoyable.
• Spend quality time with those you love.
• Look around and take opportunity to be kind to someone you don't know, or don't like.
• Be thankful for God's gifts to us, and give gifts with a God-like attitude.

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

Sleepover

AAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! Saints, pray! My daughter turned 13 today. (Happy birthday, Ashli!) My home will be invaded tonight with several young girls eating snacks till they pop, watching TV until the wee hours of the morning, and falling asleep somewhere on a floor! I keep telling myself "It's going to be ok..." Actually, it's a lot of fun. My role? I'll be the dad making chocolate shakes for EVERYONE!

Side note: Kyle and I went to Kreiger's last night to see a bit of the Steelers kicking the Rams' butts! While there, we solved many world problems... maybe we'll share those resolutions some day.... :-)

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

Rams VS Steelers

Anyone betting on the Rams?? Dwayne and I walked to Hardees for lunch in downtown St Louis today. We walked in and saw 4 young adults with Steelers jerseys on. I had to ask.... "Are you guys St Louis residents?" They were not... they came from Pittsburgh to see the Steelers kill the Rams.... uhhhhh... I mean they came to see the game. Well, I guess we'll see what happens........

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SIMP

Simplified Integrated Modular Phrase (SIMP)

In my business environment, there are people who are always trying to "one-up" everyone else. They want to sound and appear smarter than everyone else. As a result they communicate ideas using words / phrases that are meant to sound intelligent, but they are really just bogus! Several years ago, while working at McDonnell Douglas, a coworker developed a BUZZPHRASE GENERATOR. You could group words together from different columns in a table and create an itelligent sounding (but bogus) phrase. I found something similar in the link below. Give it a try and see how smart you sound......

Buzzphrase Generator

For example, the incorporation of additional mission constraints recognises the importance of other systems and the necessity for the greater fight-worthiness concept.

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action!

Birth Order Profile

I recently saw an interesting article in Time magazine (which indicates that I actually do read once in a while... even if I hate it!). There are 3 basic profiles for the order of your birth. See if this holds true in your family.

OLDEST SIBLINGS
May be better educated than younger siblings.
More likely to hold a professional position.
More concerned with meeting parents' expectations.
More likely to serve as guardian of aging parents.
Higher IQ than younger siblings.

MIDDLE SIBLINGS
May take longer to choose a career.
Less connected to family, more connected to friends.
May de-identify from firstborn, making opposite life choices.
Lacks parental recognition that first and last born siblings enjoy.
May struggle with self-esteem.

YOUNGER SIBLINGS
More tolerant of risk.
More likely to be an artist, adventurer, or entrepreneur.
Often physically smaller than first borns.
Less likely to be vaccinated than first borns.
Frequently funnier than other siblings.

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

Memories

What are your fondest Christmas-time memories? Growing up my family never took trips to relatives homes or anything like that. We celebrated Christmas with gift exchange either Christmas Eve evening or Christmas morning. There was my mom and dad, my 2 sisters, my brother, and me. My mom was great at playing Santa. There were about 3 or 4 years that I remember getting a guitar for Christmas. One year, my mom, I mean Santa, took 4 huge clothes dryer boxes and cut the top off. She wrapped the outside of the box and filled it with incredible gifts.

Fast forward....... Now I have 4 children of my own. The satisfaction of the Christmas celebration is no longer the RECEIVING of gifts (although let's not get crazy... everyone loves to get presents) but the real joy is GIVING and seeing my kids' (and wife's) face light up with excitement.

I think I get the idea of how God must have felt when He gave us Jesus as a gift..... (Granted, God knew what Jesus would later endure to purchase our souls....) Vange and I are doing our best to balance the true celebration of Jesus and the just-for-fun, Santa Claus side of this season. We are spending TIME (quality time) with our kids and building memories for them to blog about later.

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

Time Away

Vange and I are skipping town for a couple days.... It's time for us to just hang out together. We have some good friends with a very cool house that they are letting us crash.... I'm going to practice some of the things that Gary Smalley talks about in his book "I Promise You Forever." Later Gators...

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

Clark Griswald Meets His Match

Part of the fun of Christmas is decorating the house with lights and yard displays. Most of my neighborhood participates in the fun. Christmas Vacation is one of my favorite movies... and Clark is my exterior illumination hero! Well, Clark has nothing on this guy.... Check this out.



Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

Headlines

Jay Leno used to crack me up with the HEADLINES segment... I was cruising the web and found a site with some funny headlines... WARNING: Some of them are quite rude.....

Funny Headlines

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action!

Christmas music

Time to be honest.... I love Christmas... I love the cool weather and sweatshirts, the hiking boots, the smell of a real Christmas tree (ok... we are cheating on this one - since we don't have a real tree this year we have scented candles that really do smell like a Christmas tree...), I even like shopping (limited shopping...) Are there things about this time of year that really lift you up? Maybe this time of year is tough for you for some reason.

Some of the things I love about this time of year are Christmas specials on TV, Christmas movies (Christmas Vacation is the BEST!), and listening to Christmas music. OK, now that all of those warm, fuzzy feelings have been shared.... here is the "time to be honest" part.....

I have spent hours and hours searching for and charting some Christmas songs to use at LifePoint the next 2 weeks..... At this point... I actually hate Christmas music! If I sound bitter the next 2 Sundays... Sorry! I feel better...... OK, OK... It's not that bad... but I am listening to Daughtry right now and will probably steer clear of any holiday favorites for a bit..... I'm done whining now......

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action!

How Smart Are You?

This is a fun little test.... try it. If you are brave, post your score on the comments. (I am apparently very smart...)

Smart Test


Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

Why Idiots Shouldn't Drink

This story cracked me up.....

A thief walked into a corner store with a shotgun and demanded all the cash from out of the cash register. After the cashier put the cash in a bag, the robber saw a bottle of scotch that he wanted behind the counter on the shelf. He told the cashier to put it in the bag as well, but the cashier refused stating, "Because I don't believe you are over 21."The thief stated that he was, but the cashier still refused to give it to him because he didn't believe him. To prove that he really was old enough, the thief took out his driver's license and gave it to the cashier. The cashier checked the license out, agreeing that the man was indeed over 21 and put the scotch in the bag. The thief then ran from the store with his cash and his booze.The cashier promptly called the police and gave them the name and address that was listed on the license. Within two hours, the man was caught and charged.

The point? Don't be an idiot.

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

Win-Win Solution

It's amazing, but I was reading some more of the Gary Smalley Book "I Promise You Forever" and found this topic very interesting. Here is the exerpt:

I promise to work with you for a win-win solution to our differences.
I want to do a lot of things, but I can't do them all because I married someone who has beliefs, needs, and feelings of her own. We love each other and don't want to trample on each other.

So, we operate by this rule: When we disagree, we don't move forward until both of us feel good about the solution.

1. We communicate honestly and without judgement. We don't try to change or pressure each other. We listen for the heart beneath the words.

2. We place on the table ideas and alternatives, discussing their pros and cons and testing each for acceptability to the other person.

3. We find solutions that both of us like.

James 1:19 says if we are quick to listen, we will be slow to anger. Being quick to listen means listening until we understand. Understanding tends to displace anger.

I'm betting our relationships will strengthen when we follow Biblical principles like this....

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WifeSpeak

I'm sure I'll be in trouble for this... but it is funny and worth it!

WifeSpeak

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

Band Names

I was exploring some new music this morning and it hit me... Where do these people come up with some of these band names? What statement do they make, if any? And of course, because I'm a parent, I always wonder what the band members' parents think about the band name.... Check some of these out...

Infected Mushroom / Public Enemy / Bizarre / Rotting Pumpkin / Death Cab / Dismemberment Plan / Poison (OK this one is old school from back in my day....)

What are some of your "favorite" band names??

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and friends with every word and every action.

Blue Like Jazz thought

I'm reading Donald Miller's Blue Like Jazz (painfully slowly...) and ran across an interesting concept. Miller was talking with a friend who admitted cheating on his wife. The friend said when he would lie down next to his wife at night he could sense concrete walls between their hearts. He had fallen prey to lust and envy. He was living with secrets. His wife loved him, but he knew he did not deserve it. He had trouble accepting her affection because she was loving a man that did not exist. He said he was like an actor in his own home.... just playing a role

Since we've been talking about seven deadly sins at LifePoint, I have a clearer picture of Satan's goal... he tries to get us to minimize our NEED for God. He would love for us to ignore potential consequences for our unGodly actions and thoughts. The truth is, when you plant a seed, that is exactly what grows. When our words and actions "plant seeds" that are sinful, sin and it's consequence are what we will reap.... concrete walls between hearts, the ability to relate affectionately is bruised, our soul is dented.

We just talked about laziness at LifePoint and how one of the ideas behind laziness is being consumed by stuff of lesser importance that keeps us from focusing on what is important. This hit home for me last night with my kids...... I found myself consumed in a project, all good stuff by the way, but it kept me from ENGAGING my children. One daughter needed help on a homework assignment, the other challenged me to a game of ping pong, and my boys wanted me to lay down with them for a few minutes and pray with them. What did I do? Kept working on the project because it was time sensitive and important to me. I AM A DORK! What would have happened if I would have taken the extra 30 minutes to play ping pong and lay down with the boys? (I did help a bit with my daughter's homework assignment and install a new computer game for the boys... I was not a total wiener....) I probably would have realized a great joy from building those relationships. Laziness steals our blessing.... I heard a wise man say that Sunday... I do not want concrete walls between my heart and any of my family's hearts so I must be diligent to pursue relationship with God and with my family!

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action!

Griffy-Grif

Today is Griffin's 4th Birthday. We had a family party for him yesterday and it was a lot of fun. Griffin is a boy who really appreciates things. I loved watching him open presents. It was even more fun to play with him and Dawson on the new Shake and Go race track (which took me an hour to assemble...) Today is really a day of celebrating all the happiness Griffin brings to our family!

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / family / anf friends with every word and every action.

King

In a couple of weeks, at LifePoint we are going to be talking about Jesus as King. It's late (about 1 am) and I just finished charting 2 songs for the LifePoint worship team that follow this idea. The songs are King Of Glory by Third Day and Sing To The King by Passion.

What I've noticed lately is that hell is breaking loose all around... and I'm a bit P.O. d... Somehow I'm reminded of a song that Brandon has been leading the LifePoint family in... Blessed Be Your Name..... The idea that when things are great and when things suck, we are to bless God. What in the world does that mean? Since I'm not that smart, I asked Webster's what bless means.

Bless - verb

• to make holy
• to ask divine favor for
• to endow (with)
• to make happy
• to praise
• to make the sign of the cross over

Guess which one of these caught my attention..... To Praise (OK... to make happy also stirred me) I also asked Webster's about king....

king - noun

• a male ruler of a state
• a man who is supreme in some field
• something supreme in its field

So here is the bottom line.... this morning, right now, I am intentionally steering my beliefs, thoughts, and actions to praise the God who is supreme among Gods. Yep, the world is screwed up and I may not be able to FIX it.... but.... if I am playing the role God has asked of me in His story, I CAN make a positive impact. There is a King who gave EVERYTHING for us... what are we going to do with that?

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / family / and friends with every word and every action!

Concrete

It is great to have friends that care enough about you to get out of bed really early on a Saturday morning to wheel barrow concrete and finish my new patio in my back yard! Sam came straight from work off of a 48 (yes, 48) hour shift! (He's a firefighter...) Here are a few pics... A HUGE thanks to Sam, Greg, Dan Kyle, & John for making this happen! I'll show the finished product later...

Weak Post

OK - We did a concrete patio project at my house this weekend... but I haven't loaded the pics yet... So, tomorrowwill be the good stuff. By the way, Jimmie Johson is the NASCAR Nextel Cup Champion for the second year in a row! Rock on Jimmie!

Stupid Humor

Vange (my wife) loves suspense movies... Me? I'll take stupid humor any day! Talladega Nights, Wild Hogs, Anchorman... That kind of stuff. Well along those lines, I love Deep Thoughts by Jack Handy (from Saturday Night Live). Here are a few good deep thoughts...

• Sometimes I think you have to march right in and demand your rights, even if you don't know what your rights are, or who the person is you're talking to. Then on the way out, slam the door.
• One thing vampire children have to be taught early on is, don't run with a wooden stake.
• If you go to a costume party at your boss's house, wouldn't you think a good costume would be to dress up like the boss's wife? Trust me, it's not.
• Instead of having "answers" on a math test, they should just call them "impressions," and if you got a different "impression," so what, can't we all be brothers?
• A good way to threaten somebody is to light a stick of dynamite. Then you call the guy and hold the burning fuse up to the phone. "Hear that?" you say. "That's dynamite, baby."
• Too bad you can't buy a voodoo globe so that you could make the earth spin real fast and freak everybody out.
• The face of a child can say it all, especially the mouth part of the face.

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / family / and friends with every word and every action.

Shirts-N-Stuff

Congratulations to Shirts-N-Stuff on winning the Munchkin Bowl last night! My Nephew, Justin, plays football and last night was the Championship game. Haley and I went to the game and froze our hinies off! It was a good game... lots of action... and a final score of 36 - 12. Rock on boys!

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / family / and friends with every word and every action.

Nascar Crashes

OK, as hoosier as it may be, I'm into Nascar. Jimmie Johnson is about to win his 2nd (consecutive) Nextel Cup this Sunday!! I found this compilation of cool crash clips....



Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / family / and friends with every word and every action.

Demotivators

I work at at&t in a very professional atmosphere. Scattered throughout our buildings are posters designed to motivate the workforce. Since I'm somewhat sarcastic, I found a lot of humor in this website (Despair) that has several spoof posters called demotivators. Check it out... You will laugh (or be laughed at for not laughing.....)Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action.

Lessons Learned

Sometimes things happen in life that that just get filed under the "lesson learned" category. I was leaving church Sunday on my motorcycle and was just about to pull out onto the main road. The bike started choking and eventually died. I was scratching my head (figuratively) trying to figure out why the bike would not start again.... Then it hit me... the "AHAAA" moment. I had failed to turn the fuel back on. I didn't even think about it. I was just going on with my busy day and I guess I got sidetracked.

The lesson learned for me went beyond the physical reminder to turn my fuel on... In life, we have a "fuel" source.... God. We can get so busy that we forget (or choose) not to connect with Him. When this happens, we will simply be lacking the power we need to live big. Oh we can still do a little without the power source.... I guess I could have sat on the bike and powered it FLINTSTONE style.... No thanks - I turned the fuel on!

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and friends with every word and action.

The Jeffs

I have about 5 friends named Jeff.... 2 of them gave me reasons to take a fun shot at them (in "love" of course) this weekend.

Jeff #1

This Jeff was caught in the act of mopping the floor after a Trivia night for my daughters' soccer team. All I can say is the boy looks good doing manual labor.... hey Amanda, you should buy him his own custom mop and bucket for doin' chores around the house! Jeff knows that we are talking about Laziness in a couple of weeks at LifePoint... I think he was just trying to look good so noone would pick on him....

Jeff # 2

This Jeff really cracked me up. He is holding a gift card from Victoria's Secret for a free pair of panties! Here is the story - Sunday at LifePoint we talked about lust... Then last night we had a small group hangout at our house and discussed the topic a bit more. We were talking about the ways that our culture tends to heighten our lust levels. Jeff grabbed his wallet and said "I hate to even show you guys this..." He gets promotions from Victoria's Secret all the time... He pulled out the card and we had a bunch of laughs followed buy some great conversation. Jeff is not alone in this though, Dan, one of the other guys in the goup, also gets VS stuff.... but his comes addressed to "Daniela"... Go figure... I think the little Tender Flower is trying to hide....

OK, OK... after all the laughs and uncomfortable moments I did realize something significant. I have been blessed by the people God has placed in my path.... my FRIENDS. The Jeffs... and many more like them, are a great part of my everday life..... God, thanks for these guys... watch over them and their families today!

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and Friends with every word and every action!

Dedication

I've been riding my motorcycle to work in downtown St Louis all year. It has been getting a bit chilly here. The last couple of mornings I have jumped on the bike in the morning it has been about 30 degrees.... Yikes - at 70 mph that gets COLD! I love the bike though, and I love saving $ because the bike gets 50 mpg. Now That is dedication.

This morning I left for work at 6:30 (on the bike) and it was 40 degrees. I was driving down the road near our high school. I saw this kid (probably 14 years old) walking with his guitar strapped around his neck and playing it. That kid must really love the guitar... and he must have a real drive to be his best. I've seen him a couple of mornings with his guitar. I think I'll stop and ask him to play something for me next time I see him. Then, I hope to see him again several months later and see what kind of progress he has made.

Side note: my kids got their hair cut last night. Dawson (5) was very careful to catch his hair clippings in the cape and wrap them in a kleenex. He brought the hair home for me so I could use his hair on my head.... My hair has been "quiting" on me the last few years and I finally shaved my head last week.... That kid is FUNNY!

Gone Country

I know... it's a bit scary but I really like the new flavor of country music.... Have no fear, LifePoint is not goin' country (ok, maybe a hint of country here and there...). I Tivo'd the 41st CMA awards last night and watched it (and of course skipped some of the lame stuff...) Some of my favorites won awards last night:


Kenny Chesney won Entertainer Of The Year

Sugarland won Vocal Duo Of The Year








Carrie Underwood won Single Of The Year AND Female Vocalist Of The Year




Rascal Flatts performed twice. They opened the show and sounded great. They also closed the show doing a song with Jamie Foxx... and it was horrible... Jamie was great, but Gary was struggling! We all have off moments.... Till next time.

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / Family / and friends with every word and every action!

Who made THAT?

Have you ever wanted something simply because of who it was made by? You know... quality stuff is worth investing in. I'm a big believer in "you get what you pay for." David is the guitar player at LifePoint. His main guitar was made by Tom Anderson... what a sweet guitar! I would be inclined to buy any product made by Tom Anderson because he has shown his incredible craftsmanship on so many products. (Don't worry... I don't desire David's guitar to the point of a sinful level of envy....)

Who made you and I? Exactly.... God. Think about this; the same hands that carved out the oceans made us. The same hands that stacked the mountains formed our heart to pump blood to every part of our body. The same hands that scattered the stars in the sky carefully painted your eyes blue (or green, hazel, brown, etc). The same hands that crafted the rain forest formed our mouth so we could smile and speak. The same designer that decided gravity is cool put the ability in us to be happy, sad, scared, excited.... etc. Are you getting the picture?

SAME MANUFACTURER

Just in case you've ever wondered how valuable you are, consider your manufacturer. He has a track record of unmatched artistry and attention to detail.

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / family / and friends with every word and action you have!

UGLY Wallpaper

Yep... That wallpaper sucks! And what's worse is it will not come off the wall! That was our experience on our first house.... Vange and I have some friends that are embarking on the exciting journey of buying their first house. Lots of fun! Guess what... the house is not perfect... and it needs some updates and fresh paint... you know, some adjustments to make it HOME. So here is the deal - sometimes we walk into a situation that may not be ideal. But, (there is always a "but") we are given a great opportunity to make something better / something beautiful from what we start with. It happens all over in life.... How about job changes..... you get forced out of a comfy job and end up at a new company, making a ton more money. Or your relationship with that special someone expires and you end up with the love of your life... (by the way, this is not advised once you're married... then you must fight for the relationship at all costs!). Take what the world throws at you and know that it's going to be OK... Why? In the words of the Hillsong United song "Salvation Is Here,"



I know my God saved the day and I know His Word never fails and I know my God made a way for me....


Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / family / and friends with every word and action you have!

Time

Do you think about it much? For me, TIME is so much more valuable than money. It is also, I think, the primary indicator of what is important to us as people. (The very first message that Bob Robbins spoke at LifePoint was about identifying what is important to us by seeing where our resources are spent... the resources of Time, Talent, & Treasure.) There are so many good things in life (A.D.D. MOMENT - I'm listening to Carrie Underwood's new release (Carnival Ride) and for the first time in my life I've been totally impressed by the BANJO.... Check out the track "Crazy Dreams.") ... and I'm back.... Where was I... Oh yeah, there are so many good things that we can spend our time on. I would highly encourage you to invest in key relationships above anything. The hierarchy is simple: GOD > FaMiLy > friends and others. A good friend of mine, Dan, gave me a great Biblical overview that supports this. I'll share it sometime.

Here is where I have to be totally honest. I'm not a great time manager. I have to be careful not to put other important things before my wife and kids. This is especially true for church stuff (don't confuse a personal relationship with God and activities done for His church) because it is such a passion for me. Sometimes I can jump into a project with such vigor that family time gets knocked back a notch (and this offends both God and my family.) We can not "coast" in our relationships and expect to have "relational creaminess" (ok, I'm old... I stole that phrase from the old Ace Ventura movie...)

Vange and I are doing a minor remodeling project together in our basement.... there are times when doing projects together causes a bit of..... uhhh.... well, friction. I have purposed to consciously and strategically use our project time together to BUILD our relationship..... talk, dream, and of course, redesign together. I want my kids to have a valid reason to say things like "Dad, thanks for hanging out with me today... that was fun." I want to get in the floor and wrestle with my boys (and my wife... wait, did I just think that or did I type it....) I want to go out and shoot hoops with my girls... I want to let everything else go and snuggle on the couch with Vange while we watch Prison Break (actually, she is the only one watching it, I'm just snuggling...)

Spend your time wisely. It is a limited resource and there is no lottery where you can win more!

Some People....

I have four kids... Ashli (12) Haley (11) Dawson (5) and Griffin (3). Needless to say, we have a LOT of candy ofter our Trick-Or-Treat excursion Wednesday night. The weather was fantastic. After we got home and surveyed the "stash", I decided that there are a few of the candy givers that I need to meet.... Here is a sample of what we brought home....





Look closely.... Crackers? Chips? Rice Cakes? And the kicker..... PACKETS OF HOT SAUCE?
OK - either some people have a great sense of humor (cause honestly, I find that hilarious) or they have real Halloween etiquette issues.... Of course, a bunch of people from LifePoint passed out awesome candy (we hope) and included a business card with a spider web on front that stated "Church... It doesn't have to be scary!" On the back was the church website and service times. Ashli was handing the cards to people that gave her candy.... It was cool to see people slowly backing into their house, letting the door close at a snails pace, and studying the card. Way to go Ashli!

Billboards

Sometimes I see a billboard that actually captures my attention.... and I'm not talking about the hot wing place billboards. There are those signs that provoke thought, and cause me to ponder what they say. I recently saw a group of 4 billboards that Lifechurch (in Oklahoma City) used on a sermon series. Each billboard contains a statement, it is "signed" by Satan, and it has a website listed SatanHatesLife. OK, I did not see the actual billboards, but put yourself in the driver's seat of a vehicle where you see these..... Dude, I would probably wreck the car.....

3. In our attempt to connect people with God, the leadership at LifePoint will do whatever it takes. When I see a campaign like this from a church, it makes me wonder...

• "How many people were offended (maybe it is only traditional church people that are offended by something like this).


• How many people with NO CONNECTION TO GOD were prompted to think about the difference in God's desire for us versus Satan's desires.


• Is there ONE person that could start a journey of a relationship with God because a billboard made them think. Can a "seed" be planted in a person that will grow into a beautiful walk with God all because a church dared to be real and talk about real stuff? (The answer is HECK YEAH!)

Think about it ......

Live loud, live intentionally, and love God / family / and friends with every word and action you have!