I was a part of an event recently that got me thinking about people who live outwardly (the appearance of a Christian) as Christians and people who live inwardly (having a Christ-like heart) as Christians. While I was being judgmental towards some people I saw that appeared to be living outwardly it got me to thinking that while I can easily look at them and make a determination of what I think or feel, it’s not so easy to look inside Jeff and see what is going on. It reminded me I need to be focused on making judgment of my actions, I need to be focused on making judgment of my thoughts and feelings.

I live far too much living outwardly as a Christian but not living inwardly as I should. I do things I’m supposed to do most of the time but my heart and mind are not where they should be. I want to love God and live for God. I want to be a light and be Christ-like. To do so, I need to be sure I am walking in Christ’s footsteps and not worrying about what someone else does. I need to be sure my heart and soul and strength are focused on Him, not someone else.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

Yesterday was Missions Sunday at church. Our missionary from Brazil is here and he along with some others made presentations about the missions work we support. The big part of the day for me was the special contribution. We have some specific needs we hoped to address for some of our missionaries and set a goal of $20,000 for the day. This was on top of our regular contribution and while I felt confident we would hit our goal, I felt it would be close.

I was standing next to one of the finance guys when he turned the adding machine towards me so I could see the total of $48,000+ and it took me a couple of seconds to make sure my eyes were adjusted properly. With a pledge of $1,000 to be paid in the coming year, we hit nearly $50,000 and I would guess a few more checks will roll in. Incredible.

God is amazing and He is good. He provides in abundance.

Yesterday was a great reminder to me of what can happen when we trust God to give us what we need.

Tonight is the Battle of Big Sandy, the annual football showdown between Decatur and Bridgeport. Decatur has been dominant the last several years but most are expecting a close game tonight. I grew up with the Robert E. Lee/John Tyler rivalry, one that was bitter at times and ended up in physical violence more than once. The stories I could tell…but my mom reads this sometimes so I’ll just move along…

I forget what year of high school I was in when the John Tyler building was seriously damaged by a fire. Most of the classrooms were lost and there no place could be found that would house their students except—–the Robert E. Lee campus, the home of the enemy. The two schools shared the campus with Lee students coming early and leaving earlier (class periods were cut a little shorter) and John Tyler students coming around noon or a little later and going through the afternoon. Ribbons were tied around trees and banners were hung to welcome the John Tyler students to the Lee campus.

It was a time where people from two places came together and shared what they had. It was a community taking care of it’s members who needed something. It was people working together the way God intends for us to work together.

Our church has a special focus on giving of our time right now. Give 60 is the theme and people are encouraged to give 60 minutes of their week to helping others. I remember that time in high school where we came together and it felt good to know we were part of making a positive difference. It still feels good today to help others. Whether it be our rivals, people we don’t know or someone we do know, it feels good to help. I think God wired us so that when we did good things we would feel good.

I don’t know where I’m going with all of this other than to say two things. First, I encourage you to find ways to give and help others. In doing so, you help them, you help yourself and you encourage others. The second thing is GO EAGLES!

My daughter did well at cross country yesterday with what appeared to me to be her best finish yet. She cut her time down in the first mile by 47 seconds over her previous best. It earned her a Starbucks Frappa-whatever. She did great.
Her district meet is the same weekend as the youth group retreat at Camp Deer Run. She’s planning on going to the retreat. Her decision process surprised me a little. I’ve grown up being ingrained with doing what is best for the team. She plans to go to the retreat. I assume some of her reasoning revolves around the idea that she won’t have to run at the retreat but her spiritual growth trip over athletic event decision tells me something about her…something I am proud of.
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My son is taking band at school and playing the clarinet. It’s not what I would have envisioned for him but today he was practicing before we left for school and playing the theme from Jaws, the movie from the 70’s. It was pretty cool to hear him putting it together and then talking about learning all the different notes. I think he will be a child who blazes his own trail and I look forward to seeing where it takes him. He’s a good boy.

My remote was smoking last night from the continuous flipping between the Cowboys-Bills game and the Indians-Yankees game. It was good to see the over-hyped, over-priced Yankees go down in flames to a team most people can’t name more than 1 or 2 players that are on it. Then, to see a rookie kicker boot a 53 yard field goal (he had to kick it twice because of a last milli-second timeout by the Bills coach) was just plain fun. Romo had an awful game and I’m still not sure how the Cowboys hung around and won. I know this, if they don’t play better next week, they will get slaughtered. But for today, it’s all about Nick Folk and his great leg. He’s the hero today.
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Happy Birthday to Rick Ross today. I’m guessing he will celebrate by trying to recover from his State Fair eating tour yesterday.
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My daughter ran in the Decatur cross country meet last Saturday. It was a very, very, very tough course and I don’t remember seeing as many kids walking during the race as I did Saturday. It was brutal and while she didn’t finish high, she did finish the most grueling course I’ve seen. I’m proud of her for her effort and the heart she continues to show when finishing the race.
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This muggy Monday morning has me feeling like I need a double dose of coffee through an IV. The idea of laying my head down and dozing off sounds very enticing this morning.

My wife and kiddos are headed to the State Fair of Texas. I’m battling mixed emotions – glad to avoid the crowds but wishing I was going to see the sights and eat some corn dogs. I’m looking forward to the report from my wife who has fried guacamole bits on her mind. My son wants to ride the ferris wheel and see the Cooperstown exhibit (the biggest reason I wish I was going) and my daughter…I just hope she will get out of the car and go in. I pray they have a safe and very, very fun trip today.

My 7th/8th grade Bible class yesterday discussed the parable of the lost coin. I hid a quarter in a Bible and asked them if they would look for lost money the way the widow did in the story. They rummaged about the room and one or two even looked at the Bible the quarter was in but they were not invested enough in the lost coin to look hard for it. To me, God’s investment in us is the beauty of that story. He loves us so much that He gave His son for us. The lesson I walked away with is that I need to have a much greater passion for finding His lost coins, the people who need a relationship with God but have been lost. I can’t casually glance around for them, I must be keenly aware of finding them. I pray today my eyes are opened to the lost coins that God so strongly wants to find.

Good leadership is something that is easy to appreciate and hard to find. Leadership takes intention and practice. It takes perseverance and patience. It requires building relationships and building people.

I have taught a leadership development course and through it realized how much I need to do to scratch the surface of decent leadership. I have watched people be willing to lead but fail because they didn’t know how or didn’t commit to what is required. I have watched people become leaders without intending to but the way they conduct themselves made people want to follow.

I’m reading some books on leadership now. By virtue of my position at work, I need to become a better leader and studying how to do so is important to me. Studying it opens my eyes to some people through history who have been leaders and it is fascinating to learn more. Last night, I was reading a brief passage on Theodore Roosevelt and now I want to know more about him. He worked hard to achieve certain things in his life and in doing so, led and inspired many, many others.

I do appreciate leadership in it’s many forms. In the class I taught, the earliest premise was “wherever two or more people are gathered, someone will be the leader.” I wanted to make everyone aware that in our company, whether someone worked in the executive office or the shipping department, there was an opportunity for leadership and someone would take it…for better or for worse.

I don’t know where I’m going with my thoughts today other than writing what has been on my mind this morning. I hope today I will become a better leader than I was yesterday.

I love the roast beef story. It goes something like this; new bride cooks roast and new husband asks why she cut the ends off before she cooked it. “That’s the way mom always did it” comes the response. New husband gets new wife to call mom who tells new wife that Grandma did it that way. New wife calls Grandma and asks why and Grandma tells her the oven was too small for the big roasts she bought so she had to cut the ends off.

I get in a habit of doing things the same way because that’s the way they were always done. I have two meetings today that are about looking for ways to do things better, not just the way it’s always worked. My hope is that we will find better ways that bring improvement but even if we don’t, maybe a paradigm shift will bring new enthusiasm for a better tomorrow.

My honey passed her big test. Hooray!!!!! I knew she would do it and I think she knew she would do it but she was still nervous. It’s a big deal to get that behind her and all that is left should be smooth sailing.

I don’t know what she will end up doing once the student-teaching is over but she has done an amazing job in each step of this endeavor. She’s been a great example for the kids of dedication to accomplishing an achievement.

You go girl! You’ve done great.
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Roger Egle is a friend that I’ve coached baseball with. His dad had heart transplant surgery Monday night. I ask you to say a pray for the Egle family and I will post an update when I hear one.
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Speaking of prayers, add Jerry and Anna Nicholas to your prayer. Jerry is battling cancer again and it’s been been tough the last few weeks. Jerry has been such an incredible example of faith and courage to so many as he has dealt with cancer. His outlook on life and what awaits him after this life speak volumes about the heart of this man. I’m praying that God will take away this cancer because I need the encouragement I get from him. Pray for Anna too as she fights the battles right next to him. They are a beautiful couple and I am glad I know them.
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I spent a good part of Monday beginning to plan for our trip to Brazil in 2008. I’m excited to go back and wish I could go before next June. I love the people and even though it’s 90 degrees in the dead of winter, I am so uplifted by the love and friendliness of our Brazilian friends.

Ciao.

I’m headed to Dallas today (pain and misery) to take part in a seminar as a panelist. The actual seminar is tomorrow but we have rehearsal this afternoon. It will be webcast to CPA’s around the country. A good friend is the moderator and I agreed to help many, many months ago. Today, I wish I could find a way out because the content has changed and I feel like I’m lost in the topic but they still want the “small business” perspective.

I’ll be taking a keyboarding vacation tomorrow in lieu of the seminar unless I can get out of it. One of the panelists had to back out yesterday because of an emergency who was going to be my counterpart – he being from big business. Maybe they’ll drop the business guys and I can stay in Decatur.
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I sat in on our auditorium class last night and heard a discussion of the Holy Spirit. We ended on the passage (Romans 8 I think) that says the Holy Spirit intercedes in our prayers with groans and the discussion ended with what groaning by the Holy Spirit means.

I’m sure there is a better answer than mine but I told the class leader that I was confident my prayers are often so confused on what I really need to say that the Holy Spirit groans thinking “what is this boy saying? I’ll take over for him.” I’m thankful God gives me help to live and help to talk to Him. I know He understands me even when I’m not understandable. I want to know how to pray better, to talk to God in meaningful ways. I’m thankful that even in my inability to do that, He really hears what I want to say, He knows what is on my heart, He sees through my sin to my desire to serve Him.