Look! A No-Look!

I have been looking for this photo for about 2 years and I finally found it! It is a picture of my son Grayson executing his first "no-look" pass. :-) He is about 18 months old here in the photo. He didn't get this skill from his daddy because I never liked to pass the ball. As the saying goes, "you could fake a pass to me and I'd shoot it."

My two little cheerleaders!

Here are my two daughters Kylee and Cami cheering for their school. They are on the Impact cheer squad at MCS and despite their looks on their faces, they are having a great time this season! Go Eagles!

Grayson's 1st hit on thrown pitch

Tonight, Grayson got his 1st hit off of a thrown pitch. He was the last batter of the game so he was allowed to just keep on running but that is not on this clip since it took him about 25 seconds.

High School Football team that doesn't punt or kick field goals.

I can remember the video the coach references when he talks about the stategy of never punting. His ratinonal makes a bunch of sense. I have seen several local (Jacksonville) high school teams that do the on-side kick every time as well. You can't argue with the success of the coach being interviewed. I'd love it if my kid played for a coach who doesn't always do things just because that's what everyone else does. Bravo.

Discovered for whom?

When my brother Vance passed away in April, me and my two other brothers went over to his house to gather his personal items that were still remaining. Picture albums, newspaper articles, trophies, high school letterman's jacket...all items I remembered him having that would be lasting tokens of his time here. One item I didn't think much about when I picked it up was his home stereo. It was one of those small, compact ones that holds 5 CD's. I think they call them bookshelf stereos. For the past five months it had been sitting on a shelf in my garage.


Until last night.


As I cleaned it off, I happen to hit the button to eject all the CD's still in the stereo.

Out came three from the Beatles:

1. Magical Mystery Tour

2. Abbey Road

3. 1

And The Best of Three Dog Night.

Why am I writing about this?
Let me back up one small step to explain. When my dad passed away in 2003, he'd been suffering for several years from Alzheimer's and lived 1,100 miles away in MA. I know that in his condition, he basically sat mindlessly in front of the TV all day when he wasn't with his wife Annie. So when he passed away there were no points of nostalgia like a novel he was reading or a vegetable he was growing in a garden. Just TV, his cigarettes and his dog Duke.

So last night, I was saddened to think that Vance had no wife or kids who would take this "discovery" and have it stick as a memory of what their loved one liked to listened to at the end of his life.

It seemed like if I took those CD's and just put them with the others, I would be erasing a piece of his story that no one other than me would ever be able to tell or reminisce about.

In retrospect, I guess that Eric, Mark, my still grieving mom and I are the ones this slice of memory will be for.

A part of me just wishes there was a wife or children in which I could share my find. Why do you suppose that is?

Work update...

Today was my boss' last day at work. I hated to see her leave as she has been such huge help in my transition to this position. She was an awesome supervisor and taught me a tremendous amount in 5 short months. I pray she lands on her feet in a new company and that maybe one day our paths will cross again in the business world.

This corporate world stuff has been a real eye-opener. It's a lot like I expected but you can never really prepare yourself until your there. Kind of like having kids or being married...

As a side note, I have a new supervisor now and one that I have worked well with over my time here so far. I am excited to see where this all goes.

New direction in my life...

For those of you who haven't heard or maybe those who actually want to know more about why I left my job at Christ's Church, I will give a little rundown. That sentence actually sounds kind of weird that anyone would even use this kind of forum to share this or that I actually think someone would care to know.

I left the job I have long thought of as my dream job on April 7th, '09.
This whole idea transpired over about a 3 day span and I can't actually say what exactly push me past the point of even giving the idea any real thought.

In part, I can think of 3 things that have really weighed on me recently. One is my friend Eric who had his dad (also a very good friend of mine) diagnosed with cancer and go from "fine" to near death in a matter of days. I struggled between wanting to go hang out with them but I also didn't want to interfere in what could be their last days together. Sadly enough, I also had struggles with having other responsibilities (work...) that I allowed to get in the way of where my real ministry should have been taking place. Not the jobs fault, but my own for allowing it to get to that point. I am thrilled to say that Eric and his dad Mike have had more days together than they ever thought while Mike was laying in that hospital bed. I shed tears after I hugged Mike when I saw him at our Easter services just a few days ago.

Secondly, would be a relative of mine who has fallen into some trouble. I know that I had years to step up and talk to him about the path he was on and I was too busy. Too wrapped up in myself. My own little all-important world. I owe him a serious apology regardless if even one word would have made the slightest difference.

Third was my home life. I have been such a pathetic example of a husband and a father. I have carried guilt around for the last few years over how poorly I did my real job; the one away from the office.
I have long had the Holy Spirit pointing to a verse that I continually dodged. The verse talks about those who are leaders/workers/preachers, etc. in the church. It says in 1 Tim. 3;4-5 He must manage his own family well, having children who respect and obey him. For if a man cannot manage his own household, how can he take care of God’s church? I don't belong working in God's house right now and I know that I might never reach that point. Before I think selfishly about my own personal wants, I can honestly say for the 1st time in recent memory, I can't because of what those wants have taken from my family in the past.

I have a wife who has taken leftovers for the duration of our marriage. The YMCA, UNF and ministry may have look like the culprits from the outside but that couldn't be further from the truth. It was me. It was 10 years ago just as it was 3 weeks ago.

This has nothing to do with the church. This isn't a church change. It's a job change. A life change.

I hope my wife and family are ready for this. :-)