It’s nearly 2:00 AM in Texas, only midnight in Las Vegas.  I could operate on west coast time much better. 

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Tonight was cool with the exception of my phone shutting down on me so I couldn’t take more pictures.  We had front row tickets at the NFR.  I’m not sure I can go back because I would have to sit with the common folk.  We had a limo bring us back to the hotel.  Talk about rolling in style.  We ate at Wolfgang Puck’s place and it was pretty yummy.  Wolfy wasn’t around but we did sit in between tables with a couple of the NFR cowboys so it was entertaining watching women come by to talk to them wearing stuff that made you wonder if their hotel room didn’t have a mirror because they surely wouldn’t have gone out like that if it did.  But I’m not judging. 

I was reminded today why I enjoy working in the industry I work in and with the people I work with.  I’m thankful for days like this where my eyes are open to the things I have to be thankful for.  I thank God for putting opportunities in front of me that provide happiness and joy.  It’s not always an easy ride but knowing His hand is in it allows me to keep moving forward day-by-day.

Grace and peace to you.

I’m not hitting on all cylinders this morning so this is just gobbley-gook.

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I don’t know how to spell gobbley-gook.

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I hear the Cowboys won.  Yeah.  I guess.  I’m waiting for Spring Training.

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The road trip was good.  Relaxing.  Too short in many ways, long enough in others.  I love the hill country of Texas and I love the Comal and Guadalupe.  I’m waiting for a sign that I need to live there.  On the river of course.  Near the good fly-fishing waters.

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A guy in the Gruene Outfitters told me the best fishing for native trout would be in the next 2 weeks.  I haven’t figured out how to make my return trip just yet but I’m working on it.

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It would be nice to come back from a relaxing trip and have a relaxing week but that is not the case.  I have something every night.  There’s a chance at least one meeting will get canceled so I can unpack.

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I am thankful for good friends who take care of me and challenge me and love me unconditionally.  From talking to people, God has blessed me with more than other people have.  I hope to let them all know how much they mean to me in the coming days. 

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If you know me, you know I think heaven has some beautiful trout streams running through it.  I saw a little slice of heaven this weekend.  God is an incredible creator.  He made so much beauty.  I’m guilty of looking around me and seeing it in nature but not in His created people.  Today, I want to see His handiwork in the people I talk to and to remember He is the Father of all.

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Grace and peace to you.
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I told one of my loyal readers the other day that I’m a great advocate for serving others but not so great at practicing what I preach.  I’m on a journey to know God and His desire for me and to live it out in my life better each day.

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Another loyal reader presses me sometimes on my comments about service.  Growing up in the faith tradition we have, there have been times where service was seen as the end goal, not a by-product of a heart for God; seen as a way to build “credit” in the body, not as a selfless act that brings us closer to being one with Christ and each other. 

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Yesterday, I ran across this video.  I’m still processing what all he is saying, still processing the idea of putting myself in the same place he was, still processing what it might all look like to live for others.  I hope you enjoy the story though and I hope it challenges you.

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Grace and peace to you.

Before I get down to what I want to say…how ’bout that Colt McCoy.  Great game yesterday!

I deleted the post I had planned for today because a friend called me out on something I have said recently they don’t agree with.  I’m thankful for friends willing to call me out.

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Sometimes I talk way too much.  Some of you might find that hard to believe because I prefer not to talk much at all.  When I do, I’m thankful for friends who don’t stick a sock in my mouth. 

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I’m flawed.  Some of my closest friends know just how flawed I am and they keep on loving me…even when I do something I shouldn’t do more than once.  I am thankful for friends who love me unconditionally and who challenge me to be better today than I was yesterday.

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I don’t always listen to good advice but I always need good advice.  I am blessed to have friends who don’t tell me what I want to hear but what I need to hear.  Every now and then I heed their wise words and thank God for their presence in my life.

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I have much to be thankful for, nothing greater than the thanks I give God for loving me in ways no one else ever has or ever will.  Nothing can make me more thankful than the love of my Lord.

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Grace and peace to you.
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Ouch.  The Rangers looked bad last night.  I was happy to attend a World Series game but I really hoped it would also be a Rangers win.  That said, if I have a team that needs 3 consecutive wins, I’d be glad to have a team rolling out Cliff Lee, CJ Wilson and Colby Lewis.  Let’s go Rangers!

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I spent the weekend in the woods of East Texas with 60+ teenagers for our annual youth group fall retreat.  I leave each year more awestruck than the year before at the spiritual depth and energy of these kids.  I see a group who is driven more by relationships, community and love than anything I have seen.  I would love to write about all that I saw and heard but it would take too much time.  I’ll just say I feel very comfortable with the future knowing these young people will be there.

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Our theme verse for this year is John 3:30, “He must be greater; I must become less. 

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I must become less.  Less prideful.  Less worried about the future.  Less of all the things that take my focus off the cross and the power of the resurrection. 

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As I sat in the woods during some time alone with God, I watched dead leaves falling to the ground.  Leaves that once were colorful and alive, now brown and dead.  My lifespan on earth is short, far too short to always be thinking about what I need and want, far too short to miss seeing the needs of others. 

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He must become greater in my life, in my actions…in my heart.

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Grace and peace to you.
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My hopes for a 4 game sweep were swept out the door last night.  Now I have to find tickets to Game 5 and may even have to fly to San Fran to see 6 & 7. 

Oh, and while I’m dreaming of finding tickets and traveling, I’d also like to mention my yachts on both coasts, my high end Mercedes with the AMG package and my condos along several of the best fishing waters around the world.  Yes, if I’m going to dream why not dream excessively?!

I’m ready for this weekend.  I will spend Saturday and Sunday with 60+ kids and 20+ adults in the woods of East Texas exploring God’s call for our lives.  It will be challenging, tiring and fun.  I got to speak to our youth group last night and while they probably thought I’m just some crazy old guy, I got to say some things that I know God put on my heart for me to hear.  I hope it helped someone else too.

It’s a beautiful day.  It’s a day that the Lord has made.

Grace and peace to you.

I have asked God “why?” more times in the past year than I might have asked him in the past 45 years.  Today, like many days, I ask why children have to suffer.  Adults, I can understand.  They have experience and they have seen more suffering which means they should be able to deal with it better than a child.  This weekend I lost a friend but 2 kids lost a father and all I can muster is “why?”

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I’m attending the funeral today and all I can think is “why?”  In my life, I have seen how my trials and struggles have allowed me to reach out to other people yet I don’t feel like I can reach some of the people closest to me.  Why?  Bad things happen that I didn’t want to happen but couldn’t stop.  Why?  The same pain I feel is felt by others and it could create issues for generations to come.  Why?  Why did you let it happen God?  You can speak a word and the world can stop.  So why didn’t you stop this?  Why?

I know that God is a much bigger thinker and visionary than I am.  I know His ways are not my ways and his thoughts are not my thoughts.  Praise God for that because in my limited ability to understand, all I can come up with is “why?” 

Jeremiah 29:11. 

I just wish I knew too but I will accept there are reasons I don’t.

I would ask anyone reading this to say a prayer for Sergio Gonzales’ family today.

Grace and peace to you.
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It was a wacky travel day for me yesterday.  I flew to OKC in a Cessna, was driven to my destination in a mini-van, was returned to the airport in a Freightliner, couldn’t fly out because of mechanical problems and made it home in a rented Hyundai.  Today, it’s most likely I’ll drive my truck to work and then drive it home. 

I watched snippets of the Cowboys game last night.  U-G-L-Y.  Goodbye Wade.  I think people have already said goodbye to the offensive line because they don’t seem to be there any longer.

I was fortunate enough to be at Game 5 of the ALCS last Friday to witness history.  An incredible night and I’m excited about what’s coming in the World Series.  I’ll be at Game 4 too! 

I got a couple of incredibly touching responses to a blog I wrote last week.  They both touched me and challenged me to pray about what is written here.  Of course, today’s post isn’t much to pray over but I do hope I am given the thoughts and words in days to come to encourage, to give peace, to share the blessings of grace and mercy, to spread love and to challenge more growth in God’s will.  The kicker is I hope it is me who will get all of those things out of what is written as much or more than anyone else who reads it.

Grace and peace to you.

I’m expecting an email today in response to this post from one of you out there, an email that will challenge me to think more deeply about this subject before I dive in to teach it in a few days.  That said, here goes…

Matthew 5:48 – Do you best because God knows you can’t be perfect.  Give your best effort even to follow God’s will, even if it’s only an 85% effort because God knows what kind of day you are having.

That was from the New Living Busy And Trying To Make It Through The Day translation.

The Bible I normally use states it this way, “Be perfect, therefore, as your Heavenly Father is perfect.”

Early in that chapter, in the first translation I used, it says stuff like “Blessed are the middle class because they are the working class and they will be able to put food on their table” and “Blessed are those who attend church on Sunday and watch sitcoms the rest of the week for they will inherit the sofa” and “Blessed are those who avoid persecution, who avoid not-fitting-in and who avoid ever knowing a poor, hungry, homeless person for they can focus on their own wants.”  It’s an interesting read.

If I don’t strive for perfection, what should I strive for?  95%?  80%?  70%?  Be perfect therefore as your Heavenly Father is perfect.  Perfection in what you might ask?  Good question!  Is it our actions?  Our thoughts?  Honestly, this is tough for me to put into words what is in my head but I’ll try anyway.  I think (that should be a big caveat right there) it means we should be perfect in our love for God and for His desire for us.  Does that include actions?  YES!  Does that include our thoughts?  YES!  John 14:15 says something to the affect of “If you love me you will OBEY my command.”  What is it that we obey?  Jesus teaches us to love, to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to give water to the thirsty.  He teaches us to love each other.  In fact Jesus tells us that if we truly love him, we will love each other.  Now, what will you do for a person you love?  Maybe a better question is what will you not do for a person you love?  I offer that if we love people the way Jesus loves us and if we obey His commands we are called to action, action that is remarkably similar to what Jesus did while walking the earth.  AND, if I love others and obey Jesus’ commands won’t I avoid other actions and thoughts that stop me from being perfect as God is perfect? 

The problem is, I don’t do all that.  I don’t obey Jesus’ commands all the time and God knows that.  The beauty of God’s love is that He gave His son, His PERFECT son as a sacrifice for me so that my imperfections of yesterday would be covered by His blood and I start today fresh…new…clean…and ready to strive for perfection again.

For your parents out there, here’s a question.  What do you tell your children is acceptable and, whatever acceptable is, when they fall below that do you cane them, beat them, lock them in a closet or quit loving them?  Or, do you let them start over, start fresh and keep loving them and trying to give them all they need to meet what you consider acceptable? 

Achieving perfection isn’t about getting a gold star because of something we did, achieving perfection is all about loving God, giving Him our heart and obeying His commands because our Father loves us so completely, fully and unconditionally.

Grace and peace to you.

there was anything I would talk about today.

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Cliff Lee.  Un-b-LEE-vable.
Texas Rangers.  Outstanding.

Josh Hamilton’s homer to get the Rangers on the board was incredible and the added runs at the end of the game sure sent a message to the Yankees fans as they left in droves.  The Rangers are for real. 

I’m good with a Tommy Hunter/A.J. Burnett matchup tonight.  Burnett’s a bit of a head case and coming off a lot of downtime.  Hunter isn’t a great pitcher but can pound the strike zone and eat some innings.  Tonight well may come down to the bullpens and while the Rangers can be shaky, the Yankees showed last night that they aren’t perfect either.

Let’s go Rangers!

Grace and peace to you.