Honored

I'm amazed that people will come hang out simply because it is my birthday. 

I'm amazed that my wife would organize something like that.

I'm amazed that many who have other set plans to celebrate with me still drove farther than they should have at inconvenient times while feeling sick, to make sure I knew they cared.

I'm amazed at the luck I have in finding so many people who choose to spend part of their lives with me.

Who wouldn't want to turn 30.  It seems amazing.

More Reading Necessary

Found myself running short on creative spark tonight when I was trying to plan a teaching.

For me, that generally means I need to start reading more diligently again.  My brain is activated in a way that listening to sermons and watching t.v./movies just doesn't stimulate it when I sit and read.

Anyone have any good books to recommend?  Looking for things specificly about Christian practice, Ancient Near Eastern (read Biblical times in Middle East and Greek history), leadership, communication, or success.

All recommendations welcome though, even if they don't fit in any of those categories.

Downhill Turn

The Colts aren't supposed to lose.

They definitely aren't supposed to lose because Peyton made mistakes.

This needs to change.

Cats Win

Was nice to get to watch a Basketball Game tonight after taping and putting up plastic in the living room.  I had only seen scores and read recaps thus far, so it was nice to put some faces with names and watch the team run around and put the ball in the hoop more than the other guys.

Go Cats.

Empty Living Rooms

We've emptied out our living room. 

The goal is that by next week, it will be a different color, with all the cracks on the ceiling fixed.  For now, that means our two downstairs bedrooms have become our living room and our office.

Good thing the upstairs is all finished.

Short Work Weeks

I always like having short work weeks, especially short weeks where all the work I do is getting me ahead, as my Wednesday night class and Thursday service are both cancelled this week.

No pressure with the work week, and lots of food coming during the week.

Shouldn't find much to complain about, though I'm sure some things will still creep up at meetings to keep me on my toes.

"Funky Sauce"

Most weeks I end up at Applebees on Thursday nights after our Young Adult service.

There is one waitress we get more often than the rest, thankfully, because she enjoys our 15ish person party that comes in at 9:45.

Almost every week I order the same half priced appetizer without their "funky sauce."  That isn't how it is listed on the menu, but has become our groups term for the mystery sauce they add to their cheeseburger sliders.

She laughs at us every week as many of us use that term to customize our orders.

There is no value to this post besides just letting you know that you should make up a name for something at a restaurant you go to and see if you can get the server to giggle when you use it.

Challenge extended....

What is Winter Coat Weather

This morning as I was picking out which coat to wear over my short sleeve shirt, I had to debate what is cold enough for a winter coat.  Was the 30s in the range that made a winter coat acceptable or seem out of place?

Ultimately, I ended up in a windbreaker, a choice I make frequently throughout the winter, and wonder still when the first time will be that I decide a winter coat is worth wearing to work. 

Outside of snowboarding, where I know I will be out for a long time, and playing in the snow, I don't often find myself wearing a winter coat.

Sorry Mom

Wrong Opinion?

Can an opinion be wrong?  I'm not talking about it being a guess, or a verifiable fact, but how someone perceived something.

Can I have an opinion that puts confidence in one thing and lacks it in another, with the same amount of information about both and just a different feeling?

I know this seems vague, but it was weird today to be told that my opinion was wrong.  To say that I didn't see confidence in someone and saw it in someone else and that I formed my opinions accordingly.

Apparently I am supposed to see things that nobody could see.  Apparently I'm supposed to be able to see the confidence inside a person instead of that which they communicate to others.

Apparently my opinion can be wrong.  I just found that out today.

On Opportunities Shoulders

I spent a lot of time in Florida thinking about where about where my friends, efforts, talents, work, luck and blessed situation have me now.

Importantly, thinking about what obligation that creates in me to move those things forward in a successful manner.

I am not who I am because of hard work.  I am not who I am simply because I deserve what I have, or I've made myself into something.  Who I am is unique, but comes from opportunities uniquely given.  As far as I'll be concerned the rest of this post, I'll be debating how i've begun and hope to continue to establish myself as a reliable and trustworthy teacher of God's Word.

Most of the reasons I feel comfortable teaching and have done so effectively come from outside of myself.  Things I wouldn't ever change.  I can't think of many people who went to college with the freedom to pour all of themself into that experience (read: play soccer without a job, and for the rest of the year, live without a job while classes were in session) and still graduate debt free.  Even countless few who got to do the same thing with a Master's program.

The generosity and sacrifice of my parents and wife allowed me an opportunity to study God's Word and my calling that few ever get to do with so little pressure.  I wouldn't be able to teach as effectively had I not had those educational experiences.

Had I not been given chances, encouraged, supported and believed in through internships and first jobs that were granted with no experience, I never would have grown confidence and may have given up with being on stage a long time ago.

Had I not been given a mind for remembering things, ordering things, and delivering things in a logical manner, I wouldn't have been able to produce teachings that felt to me like they were authentically mine.

Had I grown up with someone else's faith forced down my throat, been drug to church, been ridiculed and shamed before finding God on my own, my understanding of Him would have been shaded.

Instead, I get to speak of the God I love because I choose to love Him, because He chooses to love me.  I get to teach a faith that is my own, not one passed down to me from a tradition.  Those traditions are important, but I couldn't ever teach a tradition, I just want to teach God's Word and have been able to do that as it has formed me more than tradition has.

My hope is that I can put in the hard work that matches.  That I can take the giftings, fortunate circumstances, luck, support, generosity and opportunities placed before me and work with due diligence to be what God has called me to be.  To find myself reliable and trustworthy with how I teach His words and speak on His behalf.

Longing

Spending the week in Florida was awesome.  Our hope was to finish better than we were seeded.  We entered the tournament seeded in 7th, meaning we played the 2 seed first.

We lost to them, and deservedly so.

The next afternoon we played the 6 seed, whom we beat, and then played in the 5th place game, finding ourselves again victorious.  2 Wins at the National tournament and the best finish for our women's program ever made it a successful trip as a coach.

The trip as a person was harder than I thought.  Those fields hold dear memories to me.  3 years spent there as a player playing for the national title.  Time spent with friends.  Time spent getting recognized for my efforts, talent, work, luck, and blessed situation.  Time spent laughing.

Those times were brought to mind quicker and deeper than I thought they would be. 

Also spent lots of time then thinking about where my friends, efforts, talents, work, luck and blessed situation have me now.

But more on that to come.  For now, just wanted to update that I'm back, and that the trip went very successfully from the coaching perspective.

Florida Calls

Out for the week.  It's warmer there than here.

Not taking an ability to do work with me, even leaving the laptop at home so working isn't an option.

I don't take vacation often, so i'll make sure i'm not productive while i'm there.

See you in a week.

Unfamiliar Territory

I wandered into some unfamiliar territory late this evening.

Upon time to leave the church, Jenny requested I follow her to McDonald's.  Jenny doesn't often recommend McDonald's, or at least hasn't in roughly 7 years. 

It was unusual.  We high fived the occasion, then bought some food and came home to have a date watching last night's Survivor while eating the yummy goodness.

Hopefully this territory will become more familiar again.

Lunch

Lunch the last two days have been out of a different necessity.

I don't recommend people finding value in food, but the last two days, when lunchtime hit, I needed an emotional pick me up.

Fortunately, I could think of a couple of places.

I've never had my day get worse because I went to Chipotle or Chick-Fil-A.  The last two days, those places have provided just the pick-me-up i need for the rest of the afternoon.

Hoping to have a better morning tomorrow.

Elections

All the stations we get are covering the elections. 

Time for a trip to Home Depot, as I'm guessing the results will still be public tomorrow.

Bring back the good shows.

Florida Bound

The weekend away went about as expected.  The guy's soccer team would have had a hard time getting through their tournament successfully, and lost a competitive game in the semi-finals.

The women's team knew they could win, but that their final game would be competitive.  They scored 50 seconds into the game, giving us the feeling we may walk away with a blowout, but gave up a goal 20 minutes or so later and went into half-time tied 1-1.  At the start of the second half, they scored in 45 seconds and then played an intense and long half keeping the other team from scoring without adding to their total.

Their tournament ended with them on top, and now they get to play in the national tournament in Florida.

And, awesomely, I get to go with them.

Looking forward to a week down there for free.

Also realizing, completely unrelated, that i'll be 30 in 30 days.