Happy!

This December, my wife and I will have been married 10 years. That's right, a decade. It has been an amazing 10 years of marriage with the love of my life, Elizabeth. I constantly tell younger people to marry someone who is married to Jesus first. I can give them that advice because its what I did. Liz was married to Jesus before we ever got together, and so was I, and it has made all the difference in our relationship.

Over the next few weeks leading up to our anniversary, I am going to post some pics and reminisce about some of our times together. As a teaser and a warm-up so to speak, here is a throw back photo from back in the day. I had to scan this in as this was before our digital camera or smartphone days!

Lead-in... this is a shot when Liz and I were a few months into seeing each other. We were headed to a Garth Fagan dance production at Nazareth College [my Alma mater] in Rochester, NY. [you can tell it is early in our dating years by the size of the twitterpated grins on our faces!]

Maps

I love maps. Not sure why. But I do. I have been wanting to post about maps for a few days now, I feel like they mean so much to me. Weird, I know.

If you've hung around me or gotten to know me, at some point when we are discussing where something is, you've seen me turn to my Google Maps on my phone to pin point the location.

Stop the conversation, I need to check my map.

Street view, satellite view, or my current favorite, terrain... doesnt matter, I like maps. Rand McNally and I - buddies. For Life. BFF. (Well, not that close).

I'd say I prefer to have a map in my hand, but I also love the interactivity of the Maps App on my phone. Got an address? I'll find you. You cant hide from me.

I better move on before I go overboard.

My family went on road trips when I was young. They were great. It was a great time for everyone to stop the busy-ness of life and just spend time with each other. No distractions, just family. I remember following the maps that we had as we drove to our destination. This was before GPS world. Need to know mileage to next exit? Got it. Time till we get there? No problem, I'll use my map and sign skills. I still remember to this day predicting to the minute our time of arriving at a particular point on our trip. I thought I was pretty special.

So I have always loved maps I guess. I could gaze at them for hours. I love to see the bigger picture, and zoom in on the details. I love trip planning, and scoping out the area of where we are going - using maps.

There is something to a map. It shows you where you are, where you want to go, and how to get there. Even showing elevation, satellite views, detours, etc. using today's interactive maps.

I guess in some ways that's how I am in life. I love understanding where I am at, where I need to go, and how to get there. Problem is, I don't always see my life map as clearly as a road map. I wish it were that easy. That is where trust enters. God knows where I am, my destination, and how to get there.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
   and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
   and he will make straight your paths. Proverbs 3:5,6 ESV

With that I will leave you with a snapshot of my current favorite map view - Terrain. The particular snapshot is of a town called, Bluefield, VA. I heard about this place talking with one of the ladies from The Neighborhood, a local home for senior living. She said it is where she is from and said it was the highest town (in elavation) this side of the Mississipi. Not sure if that is true, but I do love her map :)


View Larger Map

Today

I had a great conversation with my boss today. In fact, we've had some real meaningful ones lately. He recently was born again, putting his faith and life in Christ. And you can see a change in him. As a result, we have had some really good conversations over the recent months.

Last weekend he went and saw the new movie Courageous. He said it changed his life (and has been on me making sure my wife and I go watch it). I started talking with him about how fast time flies in life and the importance of spending time with our children. Giving our time and attention to them. Focused attention.

You see, my boss is in his 50's and all his children are out on their own, starting their own families and having children (his beloved grandchildren). He retired from the military, and has done several business ventures on his own since then. He is an extremely hard worker and is good at what he does.

I say all this because it gives perspective regarding what he said to me. It was so simple, and yet, as I reflect on it, is profound in helping us become better fathers. He talked about how we say to our kids, "We'll play tomorrow." Or, "Let's do that later." He also talked about how the things he thought were so important then, aren't so important now.

Tomorrow. Later. Yea, I've said it. Sadly, many times, later never comes. As a poem I once read says, Tomorrow never comes. Dad gets (and is) preoccupied with everything else that utterly pales in comparison to my son's or daughter's heart and affection.

We don't understand how important and meaningful and weighty that moment is for them. We can understand some when we reflect on our childhood and our relationship with our parents. Dad and Mom are heroes, they're everything in many ways.

And yet all they hear might be, "Tomorrow."

I left the conversation so uplifted and encouraged to look into my children's eyes and give them the attention and affection they deserve, Today.

One of my fears is not enjoying life as it is here and now. Constantly looking to the next thing and not seizing the moments I have with my children here and now. I fear it because that is what I do - constantly toiling about everything in life but the things, or people, that really matter. My children are growing up way to fast as it is.

And yet, in that conversation with my boss was a hidden gem called "Today." Not tomorrow, but today. One of the secrets to living life to the fullest is living it today. Playing that game, today. Building that Lego model, today. Giving that affection, today. Looking in their eyes with distracted pleasure, today.

And so here it is, or gift, called Today. Tomorrow isn't garunteed. I've always know that, yet it hit me with more significance, today. That little decision of saying yes to today with my kids as opposed to tomorrow can have a profound impact on our relationship, their relationship with God, their future, and how they will one day raise their kids. As my boss said, the pattern needs to end with me, today.

One decision. One exchange in words. I won't do it tomorrow, I'll do it today.

Faith Booster

Psalm 119:27 says, Make me understand the way of your precepts, and I will meditate on your wondrous works.

What a great way to build faith. When we meditate on the great things God is done, we are encouraged in our faith. We are encouraged to believe God for more of the same and greater! The problem comes when I fill my mind with what I feel He HASN'T done. My faith crashes at that point and its hard to step out in faith and believe God for more.

Jesus perfectly revealed the Father. In doing that, He healed all who came to Him. I have never seen a place in Scripture where He turned someone down for healing. We too are to pray in faith for healing with Jesus as our example. We have power through the Holy Spirit to do great works! However, if I meditated on all the times I have prayed for healing and it didn't happen, my faith isn't encouraged. At all. In fact I'm probably more discouraged. On the other hand, when I meditate and remind myself of the times healing has occured, I am encouraged and empowered to believe God for more!

Shout Out

Let me just tell you, I'm digging this blogging stuff! It's a lot of fun. It excites me to come down and write. Not sure why exactly, but that's OK :) I know I am only a few days into writing, but I am truly enjoying it.

I have had it in my heart for a while to blog. It seemed I never found the time to start one, or more accurately, never made the time. But it was there - a desire to write, blog style.

The other day I was tracking my tweeps and came across an inspiring post on Christopher Hopper's blog that he posted to his Twitter feed. He talked about a commitment he made a few months ago to blog every day, and the results of him doing that.

That was all I needed.

Soon thereafter my blog was born. Honestly, with not much before-thought, I started the blog and created the name, and got rolling right away.

So anyway, I want to give a big shout out to Christopher and his commitment to writing, and his blog, for helping me get over the hump. If you don't know this man, or follow his blog or tweets, I highly encourage it. Christopher lives life big as his blog states, and you can be a part if it through his blog.

And, I made the same commitment to myself. Blog everyday. Otherwise, it doesn't seem worth it.

Let's go.

The Jesus Letters

I recently started reading a new book, The Jesus Letters by David Ravenhill. Mr. Ravenhill came and spoke at our church recently, unfortunately my family and I were unable to attend. However, my good buddy Tom snatched me a copy of this book, and I'm glad he did!



From the beginning of the book I felt as if I was biting into a big hunk of steak. No frills, no fluff, probably won't ever see it as a NY Times Best Seller, but maybe that's part of what makes it so good. I'm not too far into the book, but Mr. Ravenhill doesn't hesitate to cut to the chase. He jumps right in with great insight for our churches and our lives.

If you are looking for something other than the typical Christian living best seller, don't hesitate, get a hold of this book today and join me as I read through its pages. Purchase the book here.

Picking Your Apple

What a great day my family and I had. We visited Haney's Appledale Farm in Nancy, KY, then finished the afternoon off with some Mexican food at one of our favorite family restaurants in Somerset, El Charro.


Then, the evening finished off with a great conversation with my 8-year-old daughter, Lauren. Lauren initiated the conversation while everyone was still awake, and I believe one of the first parts of the conversation was something about her wanting to marry someone who loves God and hates Halloween :) I love it! Though hating Halloween isn't the primary decision-maker in choosing a spouse (nor is it the focus of this post) the deeper issue of loving God is of utmost importance as you determine who you will spend the rest of your life with.


After we had put all the boys to bed, Lauren and I continued to talk more about marriage while I held her in my arms. It was beautiful. So many times my thoughts can be with anything and everything else, but for tonight, we had a good father-daughter connection. She was wondering about marriage and is most definitely thinking about who she should marry (even giving me a specific young boy that I shall not reveal here!) I was surprised this level of thinking happens at this age, and I am also reminded that I am male and she is female. Girls dream about marriage from young so it seems while boys are caught up in adventures and the next thing that's going on I guess :)


Anyway, I shared with her about how her Mom and I got married, how I asked her to marry me (which my wife stepped in to help with the details ;) how old we were, how I asked her Dad permission to marry her Mom, etc. Again, to my surprise, she is already counting the years until she is 18, I believe being aware of marrying age! Yikes! Wake up Dad!


She was so open to what I was sharing with her, it was beautiful. The best advice I believe I gave her was to find a young man who is married to Jesus first. Who loves Jesus more than he loves even her. Similarly, I told her to find a man who loves Jesus as much as she does. How can she marry a man and start a family if they are not walking in step?


We got talking about when the young man will come to me as her Dad and ask permission to marry her, and then eventually ask her. It was just a wonderful moment that God gave us together that no doubt is helping to shape her thoughts and how she prepares for marriage and finds a spouse one day. Of course, she is learning most from my wife and my example that we daily live before all our kids.


I am so blessed to be married to a woman who is married to Jesus first and foremost. I am so thankful the Holy Spirit was involved as I "picked my apple," the love of my life, Elizabeth. I pray that Lauren will involve Him as well as her day to be married approaches, which is coming much sooner than Daddy realizes :)