I’m taking my baseball playing boy to Flower Mound tonight to try out for a team. It’s getting harder and harder to put a competitive team together in our small town so we are hitting the road to see what options are out there. The deck is stacked against him. He’s trying out for a team that has been playing fall ball while he’s been taking it easy. They are in Flower Mound and the coach is already hesitant I’ll make the haul on a regular basis.

I think he’s ready though. I’ve asked several times if he really wants to do this and he affirms it each time. I just hope he will perform well and see improvements in his own abilities.
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We missed Halloween! It was a church night and by the time we got home, most trick-or-treating was done. The kids didn’t seem to mind as both wanted to be at church anyway and I don’t think the lack of all that candy will do us any harm. Still, it was odd not to be hauling them door to door to get their loot.
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I leave tomorrow for the Windy City. I ask for your prayers for safe travel and for my family while I’m gone.

I heard on TV this morning that there may be a change on the Supreme Court’s thinking on the death penalty. It’s something I wrestle with a little because I’ve not been in the position of someone who has been a victim of one of the criminals that was subject to it. On the other hand, and I realize my position may knock me off the Republican Party Christmas card list, I am not a proponent of the death penalty. I just don’t see where we have the right to choose if someone should live or die, that we have the right to take someone’s life into our own hands. I can’t reconcile Christ-likeness with the death penalty.

Do I think criminals should be punished? Definitely. I think there was probably some benefit to the chain gangs and hard, hard manual labor. Maybe some authorities didn’t handle it properly but I think it’s a much better alternative to the death penalty. When Clayton Williams ran for governor several years ago, one of his theme’s was “busting rocks” which is what he wanted the criminals to do. I think he had a lot of support until he made a stupid comment about rape but his hard work for criminals seemed to strike a chord with many people.

I want feel bad to see the death penalty go away but I would like to see more stringent penalties for those offenders who might be in line for it.
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The Rockies-Red Sox series didn’t go the way I wanted it to but it was a good example of momentum ruling the day. The Sox had it and the Rockies had been sitting still too long but it was still neat to see them make it that far. As for the Rangers…maybe next year.

I usually blog early in the morning but my day has been wacky so I’m running behind and to top it off, I really have nothing to say. I’m leaving Friday for a conference in Chicago. I enjoy going to Chicago and like to walk around and not need a car for a few days. I had hoped my wife was going to be able to join me but several things going on around here will prevent that so it makes the trip a little less exciting to look forward to. Even so, I’ll probably still pop in to the original Pizzeria Uno, eat at ESPN Sportszone for my son and finish off my time there at Joe’s Stone Crab. Things may change but it’s good to have dreams of eating good!

The rest of the time I’ll be at an accounting software conference. I’m not sure I can imagine anything sounding more boring but I’m sure there is. I’m considering trying to get tickets to a Bulls game but the luster of seeing them has diminished over the years. I’ve also thought of dropping in at Truefitt & Hill and getting an old-fashion shave and haircut. The Apple store will be a definite stop and maybe the Orvis store too. I think there is a theater near my hotel so I might catch the new Denzel Washington movie one night.

I’ll be alone but I think I’ll find a few things to keep me occupied. It’s good to have plans.

My daughter was able to run in the district cross country meet as it was moved up to Friday. She has struggled with the early morning practices and has appeared to waver at times on whether it is something she wanted to do. I have absolutely no idea if she will run again next year but Friday was a wonderful day. She ran the course in 16 minutes and 38 seconds! It was her best time ever and a great effort over any of her previous times. I am so proud of her because she showed up with a goal of a time to beat (even asked me to help her make sure she was under that time) and then just blew her goal away. It was a great day for a mom and a dad and I trust it was a great day for my little girl too.

Way to go KoKo. You make me so proud and bring me great joy.

Here’s my friend David and his alligator friend. Someone on the boat said alligator’s don’t have brains which is probably why the alligator kept chasing the lure even after it got hooked once or twice before David got it to the boat. I commented that I wondered if some fishermen were like alligators in that they keep trying to catch something that could bite their leg off. Oh well…it makes for a great story for years to come.

On the way to Salado today, I saw a church advertising their 30 minute worship. Ain’t that grand? All you have to do is carve out 30 minutes for worship. I went to their website and it said they have 8-10 minutes of singing, 12-15 minutes of preaching and about 5 minutes for response (listed as praying and giving). That’s pretty tidy.

At the risk of walking too far out on a limb, I’m going to suggest the way we “do church” is ineffective in some ways and we need to learn from churches that are doing some innovative things to grow in numbers, but more importantly, in spirit. Yet I tend to go in the opposite direction of the 30 minute worship. I get frustrated that we have to be efficient and keep our worship service within a designated time limit. I realize there are certain groups of people that have trouble sitting in one place too long but I also know there are some who complain only because they are not being entertained enough or because they don’t feel they are getting enough out of the service. The focus is inward when it should be upward. The focus in on them instead of on God, on what they get instead of what they are giving. I know because I have been guilty. I have complained the sermon was boring or too long, the songs were too old and too slow. I’m guilty of focusing on what I want from worship instead of what God wants from worship.

30 minutes to worship. Have mercy on me Lord when I try to stuff you in a small box of time so I can go about my life. Help me God to have a soft and open heart and a desire to worship you with disregard to the world around me.

Hopefully, I’ll be able to load a couple of pictures from my recent trip to Venice, Louisiana. It’s a place where the road literally ends. There were 16 in our group, 11 of those from our church here in Decatur and we did have a good, if not tiring, time. The bedroom we stayed in slept 4 and there wasn’t an inch to spare. While the sleeping accomodations aren’t going to get 4 stars, the scenery at times was incredible. Wildlife was abundant and it was exciting and interesting to watch it unfold.

The first picture is one of the smaller redfish I caught. I was on a boat that was more serious about fishing than picture-taking so it’s the only fish I caught I have a picture of. There were several of the fish we caught that had multiple spots on them but this was one of the “normal” ones. That’s Spider fishing on the front of the boat. No one knows his real name.

The other picture is sunset on Saturday night. We were fishing in “Red Pass” where everyone was catching the big reds. It was the first time it was really peaceful on the water while we were there and a beautiful night on the water. (You may be able to click on the pictures to get a better view.)

It was good to get away but always good to be home. I have another trip to make in a week and while it’s tough to get away, it’s also good for my mind to step out of the normal routine once in a while. Now I’m off to Salado to visit one of our stores.

I’ve watched with amazement at the news reports of the fires in California, the 800,000+ people who have been displaced and the damage that has been done. It’s always heartwarming to hear the stories of good deeds done by strangers but so many people have lost their home and possessions. While those things are temporal in the grand scheme, I can only imagine how frustrating it is to have to wait out the fires while thinking about starting over.

On the other side of the country towns have run out of water. The drought in the southeast has finally taken all the water some people have access to and others are just days away from losing theirs. I wouldn’t want to be in that situation either.

Praying for physical needs seems so selfish at times but people in both these situations need help, comfort and an end to their respective situations. I pray both get what they need.

I’m serving on a committee for the school district to look at needs of the district today and in the coming years. We have toured all the facilities and now will spend some time talking through what the priorities need to be for the next 5, 10, 20 years. As I’ve toured the schools, I’ve seen plenty of quick fixes that need to be made – carpet that needs to be replaced, signage that needs to be fixed, driveways and parking that need repairs. Along with those things, we are considering what facilities need to be improved or added to provide the best academic opportunities for our kids.

As we’ve worked through this process, it has struck me how important vision and the ability to cast the vision for the future is. Casting a vision is more than a slick marketing theme though that can be a part of it. Casting a vision really requires someone who can weather storms because there will be plenty of naysayers but the vision cannot grow dim. It’s rather easy to figure out what needs to be fixed today but to think about what needs to be done for the future is a bigger battle.

My life is so similar. It’s easy for me to focus on what I need to do today instead of spending some time preparing myself for the future. Day to day, I can fix little mistakes and postpone decisions but preparing myself for the future takes more thought, more work, more effort and…and the kicker is the payoff doesn’t come for many, many years. Eternity is a long time and something that I can easily postpone thinking about while I wrestle with the mundane tasks of today. Yet, I need to cast my vision and start working on my future because it is the most important decisions I can make today.

It’s cold and rainy in Wise County this morning and I LIKE IT.

We made it back from the edge of the world, also known as Venice, Louisiana. It was a good trip overall but a very long one. After an all night drive and a day of fishing with lots of rain and soaking wet clothes, I was beginning to wonder what I signed up for. The next two days were much better and I caught some big fish. Beautiful reds and big speckled trout. I saw some beauty on the Mississippi River and I saw some devastation that still remains from the hurricane.

One of my boat mates, (I won’t mention your name David Fuller…oops, I just mentioned your name) caught an alligator and tried to load it in the boat. I’ve got a picture I’ll try ot load sometime this week if I can figure it out. While he was doing that, I was trying to figure out how to get as far away from the alligator as possible. There’s nothing like fishing with the Decatur version of Crocodile Dundee.

Have a great day and bundle up.

I’m leaving tonight for a whirlwind fishing trip. I’m way too busy to go but I’m going anyway. I knew I had a lot to do but somehow preparing to leave has made me keenly aware of all I need to be working on. I won’t be blogging for the next few days but hopefully can post a great picture next week of me with a really, really big redfish.
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A friend made the comment to me the other day saying “religious people scare me.” I haven’t gotten that out of my head because I wasn’t sure I understood what he meant but the more I think about it, the more I think I understand. My friend is a broken person, broken by addictions and pain that I don’t know. He’s been preached at and told what he needs to do but he’s in a place where he needs love through actions right now. He’s still hurting as he recovers, hurting because the Devil won a battle with him, hurting because he hurt people along the way, hurting because he failed God. His battle back is learning that God still loves him, still cares for him and has shed grace over him. My friend loves God but is at a point where he needs people who are real, who are open that they are just as fallible, that they struggle with the same struggles.

I think I scare him. I go through life sometimes like I’ve got it all together. I handle missions work, I handle work work, I somehow get stuff done but inside I feel like I’m hanging on by a thread. I think at times I look like one of those religious people that scare him. Yet I’m no different than my friend. I’ve lost battles to Satan, I’ve failed God and I’ve failed people I love. I’ve hurt them and I live with the pain of that hurt. The only thing, the one thing that can keep me going is knowing that God loves me. There’s no doctrine, there’s no right way or wrong way to do church, there’s no work I can do that helps me…only God’s love pulls me out of the sinking sand.

I don’t want to be a religious person. Instead, I want to be a Christ-person. I want to live in Christ-likeness. I want to be the hands and feet of my Savior. I pray God will show me the way.