One of my earliest memories is of my Mom putting decorations around our television. I could not understand why I could not play with the little red bird she put in some flowers she had placed on top of our TV, or why I couldn’t play with the white and red ball she had up there.
Apparently my Mom and my Dad ended up rooting for opposing teams in the 1982 World Series. My Mom was trying to aggravate my Dad as much as she could, because she knew that the Cardinals were going to beat the Brewers. And they did… much to my Dad’s dismay.
My Mom was not much of a baseball fan, and to be honest, I am not much of a fan either. However, I have watched more baseball on TV this year than I have in my entire life and I’ve been to more games this year than I have in the last 12 years. I think this is mainly because my oldest son is taking an interest in the Texas Rangers. I had given up hope long ago of the Rangers making it to the post season, and if they happen to squeak in they would be going home after the first round.
There was something different about this year’s Rangers. They had their moments where I knew “Here we go again.” However, they always seemed to get wins when they needed them. Last Friday, my oldest son asked to stay up past his bedtime to watch the Rangers (I’m a sucker, I know) and I let him. The longer the game went on the more I believed they were actually going to win the game and advance to their first World Series. I went and woke up our third child so he could witness this moment in history. We watched together as the Rangers sent the Yankees home to begin their off-season.
The Rangers going to the World Series is not a future changing moment in history, but it may be a life-changing moment in the lives of many families. For my older sons and I, it is an opportunity to sit together and watch a game and talk. It is an opportunity for us to spend time together, and maybe one day when these boys have become men they will remember spending time with their Dad watching a game and treasuring a memory.
Friday, October 29, 2010
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Painting changes things...
My wife and I started repainting the interior of our home two weeks ago. We have taken a few hours each evening after the kids are in bed to work on our living room. It is going much slower than my wife would like but slowly but surely we are making progress.
Before we painted, the walls were a medium brown color (my wife would give it a specific name, but to me colors are light, medium, and dark). Standing in our living room you can see into the kitchen, into a hallway that goes to two of our kids’ rooms, and into our kids’ bathroom. Standing in the living room, the hallway and bathroom was a nice light brown (or tan-ish) color, our kitchen was a light green, and our front door was an off white color.
That is until we put the light brown color on the living room walls. The new color changed the look of the other colors. The kitchen stayed green but it seemed to have a little different hue to it. The front door that was an off white now has an orange-ish tone. The light brown hallway is now a yellowish color, and the bathroom is more of a cream color. The change we made in one area of the house made other parts look different.
It shouldn’t surprise me, but it does. There have been countless times I have done something different, done something new, changed a bad habit, etc. and that caused me to look at other parts of my life differently. Those parts might never have been noticed, but they were because of changes I made. Once I notice the other parts that now are noticeable I have a decision to make, are these things I can live with or are they things I want/need to change.
Rarely do the changes we make not affect something else. Rarely do the changes I make only affect me. Rarely do the changes you make only affect you. Stopping bad habits, or making healthier choices (mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually), or daring to try something you have wanted to do for some time now, etc. can be difficult because it is a change. These changes can point out other changes we need to make, or it points out to others changes they need to make.
If I had really realized how much work “just” painting the living room was going to be I might have argued a little harder with my wife to keep things the same, but I know that when all is said and done I will enjoy the changes that we have made. If we know how hard a “little” change is really going to be, we probably would never change, but some of the little changes we make end up being some of the best decisions of our lives.
Before we painted, the walls were a medium brown color (my wife would give it a specific name, but to me colors are light, medium, and dark). Standing in our living room you can see into the kitchen, into a hallway that goes to two of our kids’ rooms, and into our kids’ bathroom. Standing in the living room, the hallway and bathroom was a nice light brown (or tan-ish) color, our kitchen was a light green, and our front door was an off white color.
That is until we put the light brown color on the living room walls. The new color changed the look of the other colors. The kitchen stayed green but it seemed to have a little different hue to it. The front door that was an off white now has an orange-ish tone. The light brown hallway is now a yellowish color, and the bathroom is more of a cream color. The change we made in one area of the house made other parts look different.
It shouldn’t surprise me, but it does. There have been countless times I have done something different, done something new, changed a bad habit, etc. and that caused me to look at other parts of my life differently. Those parts might never have been noticed, but they were because of changes I made. Once I notice the other parts that now are noticeable I have a decision to make, are these things I can live with or are they things I want/need to change.
Rarely do the changes we make not affect something else. Rarely do the changes I make only affect me. Rarely do the changes you make only affect you. Stopping bad habits, or making healthier choices (mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually), or daring to try something you have wanted to do for some time now, etc. can be difficult because it is a change. These changes can point out other changes we need to make, or it points out to others changes they need to make.
If I had really realized how much work “just” painting the living room was going to be I might have argued a little harder with my wife to keep things the same, but I know that when all is said and done I will enjoy the changes that we have made. If we know how hard a “little” change is really going to be, we probably would never change, but some of the little changes we make end up being some of the best decisions of our lives.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Signs
There has been a lot of discussion lately with those that I work with about signs. If you have never been to our building before and were to pull into the parking lot, you might not be sure which door is the main entrance to the building. There are eleven doors you could enter our facility through, but very few would get you to where you want to go because there are no signs telling you where to start. If you do manage to make your way into the main entrance there are no signs to tell you which direction to proceed to get to your desired destination. Our facility has had several additions in its history. The additions provided much needed space for additional ministries or the expansion of ministries, but they have not always provided an easy way to get to where you want to go. So, we have been discussing how to make it easier for those who are unfamiliar with our building to find where they want to go.
Life can be a little like our building. There are not a lot of signs to tell you how to get to where you want to go. Additions to your life can make it a little more difficult to get to where you want to go as well. If we are not intentional about where we want to go, life has a way of moving on without us. When we are intentional about where we are going, we will begin to pay attention to how to get there. There may be times when it seems like we are actually moving away from our intended goal, but because we have studied our routes, because we know where we want to end up, we know that this path will get us there.
There are rarely flashing neon signs in life that tell us that this s the right direction. However, there may be people in our life who know how to help us get to our intended destination. Around our office we all know how to get around our facility, our desire is to make it clear for those not familiar with our facility. I hope that there are people in your life, grandparents, coworkers, teachers, friends, neighbors, and family who know how to navigate through life and are able to make it clear to you how to navigate to your intended destination.
Life can be a little like our building. There are not a lot of signs to tell you how to get to where you want to go. Additions to your life can make it a little more difficult to get to where you want to go as well. If we are not intentional about where we want to go, life has a way of moving on without us. When we are intentional about where we are going, we will begin to pay attention to how to get there. There may be times when it seems like we are actually moving away from our intended goal, but because we have studied our routes, because we know where we want to end up, we know that this path will get us there.
There are rarely flashing neon signs in life that tell us that this s the right direction. However, there may be people in our life who know how to help us get to our intended destination. Around our office we all know how to get around our facility, our desire is to make it clear for those not familiar with our facility. I hope that there are people in your life, grandparents, coworkers, teachers, friends, neighbors, and family who know how to navigate through life and are able to make it clear to you how to navigate to your intended destination.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Happily Ever After
“…and they lived happily ever after.” I don’t know how many times I have had to read that phrase to close a book. My daughter loves stories about princesses, and in our household she is THE Princess. She loves to hear about the obstacles the princess overcomes. She enjoys hearing about the handsome prince riding in and sweeping the princess off her feet, about riding into the distant horizon where they will live happily ever after.
That phrase, that ending to the book sounds so captivating, so enchanting. But it isn’t reality. We don’t hear about the struggles they deal with as they govern their fair kingdom. We don’t hear about the fights they have because their wonderful loving spouse doesn’t squeeze the toothpaste correctly, or doesn’t put the toilet paper on the roll the correct way. We don’t hear about how they deal with babies who wake up crying at 2:30 in the morning. We don’t hear about what they do when their finances get tight.
“Happily ever after” doesn’t tell the whole story. It doesn’t tell the story about life and truly living. Life can be difficult. When we truly live we are going to run into problems, some we cause and some are caused because others don’t want us to live. While fairy tales are fun to read (for some) and are enjoyed by others, they are not the whole story. We need to tell our children our stories and those of our parents and grandparents. The stories of how we dealt with our obstacles, of how we dealt with crying babies and more month at the end of our money. We need to give them a different hope, not about a prince or a genie or a fairy god mother sweeping in to save the day, but a hope about how to really live. We need to share a hope that there are opportunities out there, those opportunities might just look like obstacles at first. A hope that “happily ever after” is not about riding into the sunset to never be heard from again, but “happily ever after” might just look more like getting a colicky child back to sleep, or getting this month’s bills paid, or having a quiet moment with our spouse without a telephone ringing or children looking for our attention.
May you find life in truly living this week. May you find a way through your obstacles this week. May you begin to live a real “happily ever after” this week.
That phrase, that ending to the book sounds so captivating, so enchanting. But it isn’t reality. We don’t hear about the struggles they deal with as they govern their fair kingdom. We don’t hear about the fights they have because their wonderful loving spouse doesn’t squeeze the toothpaste correctly, or doesn’t put the toilet paper on the roll the correct way. We don’t hear about how they deal with babies who wake up crying at 2:30 in the morning. We don’t hear about what they do when their finances get tight.
“Happily ever after” doesn’t tell the whole story. It doesn’t tell the story about life and truly living. Life can be difficult. When we truly live we are going to run into problems, some we cause and some are caused because others don’t want us to live. While fairy tales are fun to read (for some) and are enjoyed by others, they are not the whole story. We need to tell our children our stories and those of our parents and grandparents. The stories of how we dealt with our obstacles, of how we dealt with crying babies and more month at the end of our money. We need to give them a different hope, not about a prince or a genie or a fairy god mother sweeping in to save the day, but a hope about how to really live. We need to share a hope that there are opportunities out there, those opportunities might just look like obstacles at first. A hope that “happily ever after” is not about riding into the sunset to never be heard from again, but “happily ever after” might just look more like getting a colicky child back to sleep, or getting this month’s bills paid, or having a quiet moment with our spouse without a telephone ringing or children looking for our attention.
May you find life in truly living this week. May you find a way through your obstacles this week. May you begin to live a real “happily ever after” this week.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Just out of sight...
I feel that I was very fortunate growing up. My Mom and Dad provided a pretty good life for my brother and me. I don’t think it was the life they anticipated as they began to date, as they courted, and began their marriage. But then again no one can anticipate what the future truly holds. My parents separated and divorced before I learned how to tie my shoes in First Grade. During their courting and falling in love with each other, I bet it never occurred to them that it could all end with such pain, with such heart ache, with such hate. I am sure there are things my parents wish they had known about each other before they said “I do” in front of friends and family. I am also sure there were pleasant surprises along the way that they never would have known about each other until they made a commitment to each other and chose to live their lives together.
I have been told often that Hindsight is 20/20. If we only knew what was just ahead of us, just out of sight, would we run bravely into the future or would we tread carefully, slowly into that future? My family has a ranch just outside of my hometown. There is a creek that runs through a portion of our land. Well, to say it runs is a bit of an overstatement. We have a creek bed running through a portion of our land. From up above, along the canyon wall (I’m not really sure you could call it a canyon) it looks like an old dried up creek bed, but every once in a while you might spot a wet spot in the shade or a pool of “standing” water in a bend. If you move the short distance from the top of the canyon into the creek bed you might find something a little different, especially if you look back on where you have been. As you walk through the creek bed you leave footprints. After a few minutes those footprints fill with the water that lies just under the surface of the creek bed. The water is there, it’s just out of sight. The water provides for the health and growth of the area. It’s just not easily seen.
At my Aunt and Uncle’s house they had an open sewer area out behind their house. The area was hard to see and the “water” was just out of sight. Trust me one of the last things you wanted to do was to look back and realize what you had just stepped through.
There is stuff in our lives and in the lives of other people that is there, it’s just out of sight. It would be very helpful if we knew it was there, but they are no warning signs. There may be great things we just can’t quite see until we look back, or they may be things we want to be a little more cautious with, or things that would be a deal breaker and we need to run from, but they are just out of sight until we look back.
My wish would be that no one would have to go through the pains of love gone wrong. But that’s not real life. Real life is hard and so much of what goes on we don’t really see until we look back. But we can’t stay looking back or we will never make any progress. We have to step forward into the unknown. Sometimes good things will pop up, at other times not so good things will come out. We will never know if we don’t live.
I have been told often that Hindsight is 20/20. If we only knew what was just ahead of us, just out of sight, would we run bravely into the future or would we tread carefully, slowly into that future? My family has a ranch just outside of my hometown. There is a creek that runs through a portion of our land. Well, to say it runs is a bit of an overstatement. We have a creek bed running through a portion of our land. From up above, along the canyon wall (I’m not really sure you could call it a canyon) it looks like an old dried up creek bed, but every once in a while you might spot a wet spot in the shade or a pool of “standing” water in a bend. If you move the short distance from the top of the canyon into the creek bed you might find something a little different, especially if you look back on where you have been. As you walk through the creek bed you leave footprints. After a few minutes those footprints fill with the water that lies just under the surface of the creek bed. The water is there, it’s just out of sight. The water provides for the health and growth of the area. It’s just not easily seen.
At my Aunt and Uncle’s house they had an open sewer area out behind their house. The area was hard to see and the “water” was just out of sight. Trust me one of the last things you wanted to do was to look back and realize what you had just stepped through.
There is stuff in our lives and in the lives of other people that is there, it’s just out of sight. It would be very helpful if we knew it was there, but they are no warning signs. There may be great things we just can’t quite see until we look back, or they may be things we want to be a little more cautious with, or things that would be a deal breaker and we need to run from, but they are just out of sight until we look back.
My wish would be that no one would have to go through the pains of love gone wrong. But that’s not real life. Real life is hard and so much of what goes on we don’t really see until we look back. But we can’t stay looking back or we will never make any progress. We have to step forward into the unknown. Sometimes good things will pop up, at other times not so good things will come out. We will never know if we don’t live.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Football in the Fall
Growing up, my brother and I spent every other weekend with our Dad. In the fall, Saturdays were for two things: a trip to Amarillo and college football. Sunday’s were for two things, also: Church and professional football. Now my dad was a little different, you have to forgive him. He wasn’t born in these parts. My dad was born in Kentucky, lived in Indiana, and finally arrived in Texas. Saturdays we would watch the Southwest Conference teams battle it out for the Championship, IF and only if, the teams from the Big 10, or possibly the SEC, were not playing.
Being born in Kentucky, my dad took a liking to the Wildcats of the University of Kentucky (having lived in Kentucky for four years, I can tell you from personal experience, you can’t help but get caught up in the madness). Living in Indiana for a few years, my dad took a liking to the Chicago Bears and the Big 10. I never understood his fascination with “da” Bears, I can’t see why anyone wouldn’t root for my favorite team, the Miami Dolphins. I learned a lot on those Saturday and Sunday afternoons, and not a whole lot about football. It was a time Dad would talk and I would listen, soaking up all I could during the time we had together. I can remember in the early 90’s my dad expressing his displeasure with the University of Arkansas and their intentions of leaving the SWC and joining the SEC. He hoped that they would go winless that year (although I remember him using a little more colorful language) for upsetting the balance of power in the college athletics world. That afternoon, I learned about my father’s understanding of loyalty, about his views on college politics (being a college science professor for 27 years he had a lot of views on college politics), and many other topics that we had discussed and would continue to discuss.
My dad couldn’t teach me about all the x’s and o’s of football. He couldn’t go out in the backyard and teach me many of the fundamentals of football. My Dad’s feet were injured during boot camp long before I was born and he couldn’t do many of the things I believe he would have liked to have done when my brother and I were still young and impressionable. But those game times were important in my life, it was time with Dad. It was time he imparted to me things he felt were important and things he felt I needed to know, and learning how to express my own views and opinions.
There have been several days when I have found myself at Nelson Park playing Softball with a group of guys or at the Abilene Soccer Fields with my sons and other parents and children. I will be the first to confess that I don’t know a lot about softball or about soccer. But like the time with my dad, it’s not really about the game. It is about the time spent with others, learning more about them and their beliefs and views, and expressing my own. These are people who I did not know before I started playing softball or helping coach soccer, but now I appreciate them sharing their life with me, even if it is for just a few hours a week on a ball field.
I am looking forward to taking my boys to Bulldog stadium to watch some games, or to Jones AT&T stadium to watch our Texas Tech Red Raiders(who knows where else we may find ourselves), not so much to grow within them a love for football but to have that time with them. Maybe we will talk about the x’s and o’s of football, but maybe we talk about our faith, our views on politics, learn something more about each other.
Who do you share your life with? Who are you able to share your beliefs, your views, your opinions with? If you don’t have a person, a group to do that with, maybe it’s time to take up a hobby or spend some time with others learning to do something new. After all, it’s not really about your new hobby or activity, it’s about adding life and meaning to the existence we have during our time here on earth.
Being born in Kentucky, my dad took a liking to the Wildcats of the University of Kentucky (having lived in Kentucky for four years, I can tell you from personal experience, you can’t help but get caught up in the madness). Living in Indiana for a few years, my dad took a liking to the Chicago Bears and the Big 10. I never understood his fascination with “da” Bears, I can’t see why anyone wouldn’t root for my favorite team, the Miami Dolphins. I learned a lot on those Saturday and Sunday afternoons, and not a whole lot about football. It was a time Dad would talk and I would listen, soaking up all I could during the time we had together. I can remember in the early 90’s my dad expressing his displeasure with the University of Arkansas and their intentions of leaving the SWC and joining the SEC. He hoped that they would go winless that year (although I remember him using a little more colorful language) for upsetting the balance of power in the college athletics world. That afternoon, I learned about my father’s understanding of loyalty, about his views on college politics (being a college science professor for 27 years he had a lot of views on college politics), and many other topics that we had discussed and would continue to discuss.
My dad couldn’t teach me about all the x’s and o’s of football. He couldn’t go out in the backyard and teach me many of the fundamentals of football. My Dad’s feet were injured during boot camp long before I was born and he couldn’t do many of the things I believe he would have liked to have done when my brother and I were still young and impressionable. But those game times were important in my life, it was time with Dad. It was time he imparted to me things he felt were important and things he felt I needed to know, and learning how to express my own views and opinions.
There have been several days when I have found myself at Nelson Park playing Softball with a group of guys or at the Abilene Soccer Fields with my sons and other parents and children. I will be the first to confess that I don’t know a lot about softball or about soccer. But like the time with my dad, it’s not really about the game. It is about the time spent with others, learning more about them and their beliefs and views, and expressing my own. These are people who I did not know before I started playing softball or helping coach soccer, but now I appreciate them sharing their life with me, even if it is for just a few hours a week on a ball field.
I am looking forward to taking my boys to Bulldog stadium to watch some games, or to Jones AT&T stadium to watch our Texas Tech Red Raiders(who knows where else we may find ourselves), not so much to grow within them a love for football but to have that time with them. Maybe we will talk about the x’s and o’s of football, but maybe we talk about our faith, our views on politics, learn something more about each other.
Who do you share your life with? Who are you able to share your beliefs, your views, your opinions with? If you don’t have a person, a group to do that with, maybe it’s time to take up a hobby or spend some time with others learning to do something new. After all, it’s not really about your new hobby or activity, it’s about adding life and meaning to the existence we have during our time here on earth.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Life was so much easier...
This past weekend my wife’s parents took our 4 year old for the long weekend. My wife’s sister took our 7 year old and our 5 year old for the long weekend. That left only our 21 month old at home for the weekend. Our normal everyday activities suddenly seemed much easier.
It was not that long ago that I was overwhelmed with the addition of our first child. Things that should have been easy, took on a more difficult nature. Trying to clean the house, or prepare a meal, or study for class was not as easy as it once was because now this little person demanded some of the time I was attempting to focus elsewhere. I can remember thinking, “How do other people do this?” I had a difficult time balancing life with a child, and school, and work, and responsibilities as a husband, and … Eventually I must have gotten the hang of it. But I had the same feelings when child #2 came, and with child #3, and child #4…
My wife and I laughed this past weekend remembering when we thought life with one child was overwhelming. Looking back, we did not realize how easy life really was. At the time, we were not used to another person demanding so much of our time and energy. That was our reality, for a time. Somewhere along this journey we learned how to balance things a little better, to where we were not as overwhelmed. It took us learning from our first child to prepare us for our second. It took us learning from our first and second child to prepare us for our third…
In school some of us had to struggle through addition and subtraction so that we could overcome the problems we faced in Algebra, and geometry. Some of us had to struggle with rules of grammar and spelling to be able to overcome the problem of research papers and thesis’ papers.
Life can get overwhelming. Tasks that should not be difficult, are, because of circumstances we find ourselves in or the choices we have made. When we experience times of difficulty, or find ourselves overwhelmed with the goings on of life, these just might be times that are preparing us for the next chapter of our life!
The stuff we deal with now might feel more like a struggle than an opportunity, but dealing with it just might prepare us for the next opportunity that comes along.
Our difficulties and problems today may really be opportunities for tomorrow. At least that’s what I keep telling myself as we now try to adjust to three kids in school, two kids in soccer, one child in ballet and dance classes, along with school activities, church activities, etc. I wait for the day when we can look back on today and see the bigger picture and notice all the blessings we didn’t notice in the midst of our difficulties.
It was not that long ago that I was overwhelmed with the addition of our first child. Things that should have been easy, took on a more difficult nature. Trying to clean the house, or prepare a meal, or study for class was not as easy as it once was because now this little person demanded some of the time I was attempting to focus elsewhere. I can remember thinking, “How do other people do this?” I had a difficult time balancing life with a child, and school, and work, and responsibilities as a husband, and … Eventually I must have gotten the hang of it. But I had the same feelings when child #2 came, and with child #3, and child #4…
My wife and I laughed this past weekend remembering when we thought life with one child was overwhelming. Looking back, we did not realize how easy life really was. At the time, we were not used to another person demanding so much of our time and energy. That was our reality, for a time. Somewhere along this journey we learned how to balance things a little better, to where we were not as overwhelmed. It took us learning from our first child to prepare us for our second. It took us learning from our first and second child to prepare us for our third…
In school some of us had to struggle through addition and subtraction so that we could overcome the problems we faced in Algebra, and geometry. Some of us had to struggle with rules of grammar and spelling to be able to overcome the problem of research papers and thesis’ papers.
Life can get overwhelming. Tasks that should not be difficult, are, because of circumstances we find ourselves in or the choices we have made. When we experience times of difficulty, or find ourselves overwhelmed with the goings on of life, these just might be times that are preparing us for the next chapter of our life!
The stuff we deal with now might feel more like a struggle than an opportunity, but dealing with it just might prepare us for the next opportunity that comes along.
Our difficulties and problems today may really be opportunities for tomorrow. At least that’s what I keep telling myself as we now try to adjust to three kids in school, two kids in soccer, one child in ballet and dance classes, along with school activities, church activities, etc. I wait for the day when we can look back on today and see the bigger picture and notice all the blessings we didn’t notice in the midst of our difficulties.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)