I stayed up watching the Rangers last night and was rewarded for my lack of sleep around 11:00 when Ramon Vasquez hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 10th. It was a crazy game that both teams should have put away and neither team really deserved to win but I’m glad the Rangers came out on top. They are still toying just under the .500 mark and only 4.5 games out of 1st place. In the end, they don’t have to win it all for me to be happy but just be competitive. They are doing that right now and I retract my earlier remarks that the sky is falling on the Rangers.
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I’m going to recommend The Shack as a book to read. I finished it last night and have a myriad of thoughts from it and about it. I am recommending for one reason only; it has made me think, rethink and think some more about how big God is, about how far He goes with us and how He works in ways I cannot imagine. It has pushed me to start taking down the mental borders of where I think God works and to give Him control of everything instead of me thinking I can share control and see the parameters of where God works.

The book is written as a true story yet I still think of it as fiction. I just can’t believe it’s real but for now will accept that God can do whatever God wants to do whether I believe it or not. I think there will be a lot of people who read it and use it to point out areas of liberal theology. Others may read it and use it to state no rules exist and whatever we want to do is just OK. Others, and I hope it will be the biggest percentage, who read it will simply grow in a desire to know God better.

I don’t understand God and don’t know that I will while on this earth but I do know I want to get closer to knowing Him and understanding Him and to do that, I have to quit thinking about God in the box that I’m comfortable with and let God express Himself to me in the way He desires. That’s not easy but where I am today.

I think this is a journey that will be tumultuous at times but will lead me to peace in Him, through Him.

I think I’ve mentioned that I am reading a book titled “The Shack” right now. It’s a big seller in Christian book circles and there are lots of recommendations to read it (of course, they don’t post most of the don’t-read letters). I’m not finished with it yet but I’m going to take some space to write about some of the challenges and thoughts it has brought to me.

The very first challenge I had was the wording that was used to define God. The author uses “Papa” when referring to God and that just flies all over me. I’m not sure why but if I don’t like it, it shouldn’t be done and I shouldn’t give the book much credibility, should I? That’s the way I think at times, as silly as it may be.

The idea that my theology is right and that’s just the way it is is one of the biggest challenges that has come to me in this book. As I read, I keep having the thought that maybe, just maybe, it’s not what I want to believe but what God wants me to believe – that maybe my doctrine and my parameters and my paradigm aren’t exactly the same as God’s doctrine and parameters and paradigm. YIKES!

What I’ve determined through a little introspection is that I need to be more open to God – to open my eyes and my mind and my heart more to hear Him instead of seeing things through my own experience. Yes, that is a challenge.

Sunday is Mother’s Day and I want to give thanks for the mothers in my life. Moms have a special place in most people’s lives and mine is no different. My mom certainly had her hands full at times but always loved me through whatever I put her through. She helped mold me and shape me and make my life the best she could give me. I may never appreciate the sacrifices she made for me but I am pretty confident that she still wouldn’t have it any other way. Most of the memories that immediately come to mind have to do with food or moments that I was surely exasperating her. Lemon ice box pie, fried chicken, black-eyed peas and hot water cornbread, boiled shrimp. I certainly ate good. We still laugh (maybe I laugh more than her) about the last spanking she gave me. I remember the fear I put in her life when I was off on my motorcycle and she couldn’t find me. It’s only been since I’ve had children that I understood that fear. There’s no telling how many basketball and football games she sat through cheering me on.

Thank you mom for loving me every moment of my life.
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I am thankful for my wife, the mother of my children. I would guess, like I was and many children are, that they do not know how to appreciate their mom for all she does but one day they will. How many meals have been prepared, how many pieces of clothing washed, miles driven to church and school functions and on and on? How many scrapes, bumps and bruises have been cleaned and kissed for faster healing? There is so much she does without fanfare simple driven by her love for her children. I have been blessed and my two kids have been blessed with a wonderful wife and mother.
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I am thankful for my mother-in-law. She has been a blessing to 3 children, their spouses and 8 grandchildren. Her love for her family is shared all the time. I am thankful for the love she gave her children which is evident in how they live their lives and the feeling of acceptance she gave to me many years ago. I count it a blessing that I have such a good relationship with her and I give thanks for her.
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The common thread through these 3 mothers is their love for God and their desire to honor Him. What an incredible blessing and legacy for their children.

Thank you to the 3 wonderful women in my life.

It’s one of those rainy, sleepy days. One of those days where crawling back in bed and going back to sleep seems really appealing.
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I’m currently reading a book titled “The Shack.” It’s a story about a guy who goes through some turmoil in his life and his relationship with God. I’m not sure how I feel about it right now but it has some interesting thoughts on how we view pain and suffering and what God sees. I simply bring this up because of the cyclone that hit Mynamar, a tragedy in human eyes, and this book is making me really think about why God would or wouldn’t let something like that happen.

I’m trying to open my mind to God more, to get out of the habit of trying to only understand God through my eyes but to let God show me what He wants me to see. I have a habit of trying to figure out God in my paradigm of experiences and I’m coming to the conclusion that He just might not fit in a box that I can imagine or create.
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That’s all I have for today. It’s Wednesday. Church and basketball. I’m headed out of town either Thursday or Friday so I may miss a day of posting.

I hope you have peace for today.

I’ve been playing around with what you see on my blog a little bit. My wife told me about the verse of the day feature from Biblegateway.com which is a cool feature. Thanks to her for helping me be a bit more technologically savvy. I also added a picture I took in Venice, Louisiana last year. It’s sunset around the Gulf of Mexico. I love sunsets and this picture is very calming to me.
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Many of you have probably heard the story of Randy Pausch (I think I spelled it right) who is dying of pancreatic cancer. He was a professor at Carnegie-Mellon and delivered his last lecture at the school last year. It was a lecture about things that have come to him knowing he had a relatively short time to live. He is married with 3 very young children and he was looking for a way to pass on his love for them and nuggets of wisdom he would want them to know. It’s a touching story but even more, a thought-provoking story for anyone who hears him.

What would you do if you knew you only had months to live? What would you tell your family? What would you tell others? Where would you go? What would you want to leave behind? How would you change? Are there people or things that frustrate you now that don’t matter if you only have weeks/months left? Are there things you would go try? Questions that all of us have encountered at one time or another but not with the intensity of someone with a short time to live.

These are questions that are on my mind but I’m living as if there are years and years to get to them. I’m contemplating my current approach to those questions and many others. In the next day or so, I’ll post some links to his lecture so you can hear more for yourself.

Peace to you.

I believe in the power of prayer, I believe in the beauty of being able to talk to God and that He hears us. I believe in the necessity of constant, continual prayer to stay linked to God and to give Satan less access to our heads and hearts. I believe these things but find myself so often struggling with prayer. Making time for it. Feeling like I know what to say, how to praise God, what to ask for. Sometimes my prayers are asking for forgiveness and I am brought to tears because of the grace God extends to me. Other prayers are for my family, for missionaries I know and don’t know, for people I know that are hurting, for strength. I pray for so many things and yet, often I feel my prayers are so inadequate that I just pray for God to understand what I cannot even figure out how to say. And, I believe He does that for me.

I am thankful for prayer and my hope is that I learn to use this gift God gave me better each day; that through my prayers I will grow closer to God and that my prayers may bring peace to those in need of what He offers.

I hope you live in His peace today.

I’m sorry but I don’t seem to have the mental capacity to offer much today.

Avery’s gone.
I saw a clip on GMA this morning about a softball game where a girl hits a home run and when coming around 1st base, her knee blows out. Some girls from the other team come over, pick her up and carry her around the bases letting her touch each one so she gets her home run. Great sportsmanship.
The Rangers won! The Rangers won!
I’ve been asked to speak to our youth group about prayer. Yikes! It’s one of those things I think I could babble on about for hours and fear I’d never make sense. I have so many thoughts about it but feel inadequate to talk about it. Pray for me to find some wisdom to share in a message God wants these kids to hear.
Yesterday was the end of the month. I always have some deadlines at the end of the month that I worry about making because I have to depend on other people. I got it done and now I’m just waiting to exhale.
I hear the Phoenix coach may be coming to Dallas. I could criticize him all day but at least he hasn’t admitted to smoking marijuana or started a riot in a strip club.
Last night in our youth class, 1/4 of the kids (I’m guessing) don’t normally go to our church. It’s the power of our youth to be willing to share Christ with anyone they come in contact with. From what I know, several of them that come regularly don’t have a church home. Amazing. I am encouraged every week by the young people at our church.

Peace to you today.

This is about the Mavs, not politics. I have to admit I watched very little of the Mavericks season because I do not enjoy pro basketball and the Mavs brand of the last several years has been the worst in my mind. I guess I’m old school. I like hard work, fundamentals and defense – something sorely lacking from most of the Mavs play I did watch. In my useless opinion, Dirk is a great 2nd guy but not a good1st guy. I think he plays soft and shows little, if any, emotional fire but it’s not all Dirk. He doesn’t have the cast of characters around him that he needs. There’s no meat to the team, no fight. A bunch of guys shooting jump shots in a league that doesn’t shoot jump shots very well. I’m glad their season is over so I don’t have to listen or see them. Anguishing over watching the Rangers is bad enough.

Speaking of the Rangers, it’s painful and I wonder why something hasn’t been done to show hope for the future. Washington doesn’t seem to be the guy so why keep him? Or is it Daniels? Yes, they need pitching but the fielding has been horrific and Washington is supposed to be the fundamentals coach. Uh-oh. My wife got me the MLB package a couple of years ago and I find myself watching National League games the majority of the time. I’ll watch the Cardinals and the Braves with some Mets thrown in and I enjoy watching the Padres, Rockies and Diamondbacks for later games. I just can’t cheer for another American League team so I’m more of a National League fan now. Thanks Rangers.

I enjoy watching the Firehouse Muscle the most. It’s been an up-and-down year for the team. They take the field again this weekend and hopefully will continue to show improvement from their two good games in the last tournament.

Our Sunday morning class is currently studying Ecclesiastes (I may have misspelled). I don’t recall ever studying it but have found it fascinating. I don’t understand much of it after reading it once and have to go over it several times. Last week we began reading Chapter 7 and, again, I was fascinated by what I read. The first verse says something like “a good name is better than a fine perfume and the day of death is better than the day of birth.” As we studied, I kept coming back to that verse and what it meant. My focus kept going to “the day of death better than the day of birth.” I think what the entire section we read was telling us that our focus has to be on heaven, not earth. The day of death on earth leads us to the first day of heaven.

I think I am becoming more heaven focused and want to keep doing that. I am growing more comfortable that the day of death will take me to a better place, a place I still can’t fully imagine and know will exceed anything I can imagine.

The power in our part of Decatur went out this morning. It’s crazy when the electricity goes out because so much of what we do is dependent on it. Fortunately, the power company had it fixed in a relatively short time and life is back to normal.
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The Rangers are now on a “win-1, lose-2” program. It’s not very exciting but good to see them win now and then.

My son and I saw ACU play Friday night and Saturday afternoon. There were a combined 38 hits in the Friday night game and I think Tarleton threw 6 or 7 different pitchers. The Saturday game was a bit closer but it wasn’t a pitcher’s duel either. The ACU facility is really nice and a fun place to watch a game.

The Fort Worth Cats start play pretty soon. It’s always a fun time at the Cats game. The stadium is great, the seats are inexpensive and they serve Kinkaid’s hamburgers.
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I didn’t pay much attention to the NFL draft over the weekend other than to think how many new millionaires were created in a day. It’s astonishing what those guys do and how much they make doing it. Even a guy like Pacman Jones can keep playing and making loads of money if he has the ability. Astonishing.

Then I hear Josh Howard admitted to smoking pot on the radio Friday. What in the world?