New Beginnings

I am not a huge fan of the New Year's resolutions that so many people are making right now. Oh, I have made my share of them, and I have broken my share of them. As an ex-perfectionist, I realize that most of my New Year's resolutions were unrealistic and only set me up for failure yet again.

I do understand the allure of the New Year's resolution. The New Year is a natural time for new beginnings. I have found that God is all about new beginnings. Rather than waiting for a new year, I believe He is showing me that His mercies are "new every morning" (Lam 3:22-23). I do not have to wait for a new year or even plan some big beginning at the start of a new year. At the beginning of each new day, I can start afresh. As I continue to learn and grow, I find His mercies new and His grace abundant for each new day. What a comfort!

With that said, I have come to truly appreciate the week between Christmas and New Year's. It has become my time to reflect on the previous twelve months and look forward to the year ahead. As I reread journal entries and remember the year's events, I am always amazed at all that God has done in my life over the past year. I find it productive to evaluate how I am doing and seek the direction that God is leading me for the upcoming year. I enjoy dreaming of the future and considering what concrete steps God may be urging me to take toward the realization of those dreams.

This year has seen some pretty amazing changes in my life. Some of these changes are obvious to the outside observer. Our family has purchased and settled into a new house. No more renting and waiting to sell our old house. God has also brought us to a fabulous church. I cannot express how good it feels to again become connected with a local body of Christ. Each of our children has grown another year older and experienced the milestones that go along with that. If I were to look, I am sure that I would also find an additional gray hair or maybe even a wrinkle to evidence the fact that I have also grown another year older.

Though the external changes are evident, it is what God is doing inside that excites me the most. He has continued to prove to me that I can trust Him. He has taken care of every detail of our relocation in His perfect time, even though that may not have always corresponded with my time.

I have also received a deeper revelation of two companion truths. First, God has consistently reminded me that He is always with me. I am being challenged to live with an ever-increasing awareness of His constant presence. Second, God has truly given me a greater understanding of Romans 8:28. What can I possibly find about which to worry or fear when God has promised that He is working all things for my ultimate good? I am not saying it is easy, especially when things happen that do not feel good, but the peace is incredible!

If I have a theme song for this year, I would have to say it is "How Can I Keep from Singing" by Chris Tomlin. If you are not familiar with the song, it is worth checking out. Even if you are familiar, it is worth a re-listen. It's all good, but my favorite line has become, "I know I am loved by the King, and it makes my heart want to sing". I know I am loved by the King. What else truly matters?

So what lies ahead? Obviously, only God knows the future; however, there are a few areas in which I believe He is focusing my attention. Our family is continuing to take steps toward healthier living in an effort to become better stewards of the physical bodies He has given to us. Since what we eat is a big part of this and I am the chief cook around here, I am anticipating change and the stretching that always seems to bring. I am also challenged to dive deeper into the Bible. I do not want to read and memorize Scripture because I should. I want to do it because His Word is life, and I am learning more and more that life is priceless.

What about you? What has your journey been like this past year and where do you anticipate you may be one year from now?

One of the Reasons We Live “Debt Free”

I must tell you that I am a huge fan of Dave Ramsey. If you haven’t heard of him, just click on the link to navigate to his website. He is a personal finance guru who has successfully grown his company without one penny of debt from a card table in his living room to a dynamic company of 300+ people. It’s really no secret, if you know me that I would love to work for Dave. His enthusiastic, fiery, no-nonsense personality sprinkled with a dash of tender heartedness when the need arises is a real winner. I can’t really remember exactly when I started listening to him (I think it must have been in 2005), but his message of living on less than you make immediately resounded with me. I was hooked and have been a regular listener ever since.

Proverts 22:7 (ESV)

The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender.

_{The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.}

One of the thrusts of Dave’s message is based on Proverbs 22:7 (shown above). When you borrow from someone, you become enslaved to them. I recognized that every month I was being held captive to paying the truck payment and the credit card bills. Thankfully, Michelle and I had not dug ourselves too deeply into debt. We determined that, going forward, we would live free from the entanglements of debt. Each month was a purposeful movement towards reducing debt and living on our plan to live within our means. Finally, in early 2006 I was convinced that I should sell my truck to enable us to be completely debt free. It was a wonderful feeling to not have the debt weighing us down!

Let me toss in one fact here before I continue. The only debt that Dave will not yell at you for having is a home mortgage that is on a 15 year fixed rate with the payment being no more than ¼ (approximately) of your take-home pay. So when I say “debt free,” I am referring to no debt beyond a mortgage of this type.

Since that moment in 2006, we have been committed to making decisions that keep us debt free. Over the past year, we have experienced several challenges to our resolve to maintain a debt-free lifestyle. Upon relocating to another state for employment, we consciously chose to rent a residence in a city half an hour away from my new job. We made this sacrifice in order to continue to make our house payment at our previous residence and make the rent payment while living within our means. It was not easy living and working in two different cities!

The second test of our willpower came once we sold our residence out of state. Would we be willing to follow Dave’s guidelines for a mortgage? It was actually quite agonizing because we just couldn’t find a home that we liked in the area we wanted and in the price range that we could afford. There were several times that I wanted to scrap the whole idea and buy a house that, looking back, would never have been a blessing. Thankfully, wisdom prevailed and we chose to put down a good down-payment and only take out a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage. Our home is a “fixer-upper”, but I can honestly say that I could not be more pleased with our decision. We are so thrilled with the home in which we live!

Once again, if you know Dave, you know that one of his mantras is “Live like no one else so later you can live like no one else”. Michelle and I have made, and plan to continue to make, that decision every day. Today, I am happy to report that we have been able to experience one of those small moments of joy that comes with that decision. Pictured above is our new gas fireplace insert. We love it! We look forward to getting many years of use out of it. Can’t you just see the flat screen TV mounted above it?!? However, if we had not been living on a budget and working our plan, we would not be in a place to purchase this luxury. A portion of our thanks has to go to Dave Ramsey for inspiring us to live like no one else so that now we are getting a small taste of living like no one else. Thanks Dave!

What could you do if you were “debt free”? What’s stopping you?

In Memoriam

In my school days, I was blessed with several truly exceptional teachers. One such teacher was Mr. R., my Humanities teacher, freshman year of high school. He was the type of teacher that a student dreads in school but comes to truly appreciate as an adult. Mr. R. expected excellence from each of us and never let us get by with less than our best. I had already heard of Mr. R. before that first day of high school as I stood outside of his classroom preparing to enter. His reputation preceded him.

Actually, my story really begins five years earlier on a fall day when I was in the fourth grade. A retired English teacher entered our classroom to assist our teacher in grammar instruction. Mrs. R. wore a smart, red business suit with her white hair pinned up neatly on her head in prim and proper fashion. Whispers from the bigger fifth and sixth graders had already warned us that Mrs. R. was no-nonsense. She spoke perfect English and allowed nothing less from her students. Mrs. R. drilled us in the proper usage of the comma, semi-colon, and apostrophe. Her personal pet-peeve was the term "a lot". Mrs. R. taught us never to use "a lot", but at least to know that it was two words and not one. We learned how to diagram sentences and to never end with a conjunction. Looking back, I realize that Mrs. R. laid the foundation for my English grammar. She taught me how to write properly.

Rumor had it that Mrs. R. had a husband who taught at the high school and was just as tough as she was. It was with this knowledge that I entered Mr. R.'s classroom my freshman year. I must admit that I was a bit surprised when I first met Mr. R. His wardrobe was everything that Mrs. R.'s was not. I cannot honestly remember ever seeing him in anything other than faded blue jeans, plaid shirt, bulky sweater, and something that resembled moccasin slippers. He was a big, bear of a man with thick glasses and shaggy hair. Just imagining the two of them together in all of their contrast still brings a chuckle to me.

Mr. R. had a strict grading policy for our five-paragraph themes. He read our rough drafts and marked each error, but he stopped reading when he came to the third error. There were times when he did not even get passed the first sentence! We were allowed to correct our errors, try to proof the rest of the theme ourselves, and return our second draft to Mr. R. He, again, read the draft and stopped after marking the third error. This was crunch time. We corrected the theme and turned in the final draft. I confess there was a time or two that I handed Mr. R. a final draft in which he had never read beyond the first paragraph. I could only imagine the mine field of red ink and the disappointing grade that may await me. That's right! Mr. R. always corrected our papers in red ink. It did not damage my self-esteem, but it sure did get my attention! If Mrs. R. laid my English grammar foundation, Mr. R. built one of the stories.

Mr. R. was so much more than an English teacher. He taught me to be excellent. He refused to allow the word "yeah", requiring "yes" in its place. As my Humanities teacher, Mr. R. truly opened my eyes to a world I had never before experienced. He inspired me to love old movies. He instilled in me an appreciation for fine art. He tried his best to awaken some interest within me for opera. (Sorry, Mr. R.) To this day, I still automatically identify the focal point when first looking at a painting or photograph. Mr. R. tried to bring a little culture into our public education. I will never forget how he insisted that we not clap every time the music stopped when he took us to the symphony. He did not want us to embarrass him. When others around us clapped, Mr. R. simply looked at us to make sure that none of the dolts were from his class.

I have not thought of some of these memories in some time, but these experiences have helped to make me who I am. I received the news today that Mr. R. passed away on Christmas Eve this year. After shedding tears, I determined to do something that would truly honor him and write this blog. Thank you, Mr. R., for requiring the best of your students. Thank you for inspiring me to be excellent. Thank you, Mrs. R., as well. You and your husband will forever live in my heart. My family's thoughts and prayers are with you.

Reader, how about you? Who were the teachers who truly inspired you to be more than you thought you could be?

The Tyranny of the Blank Page

I have wanted to be an author since I was 8 years old. Growing up, I wrote poems, songs, essays, short stories, and even tried my hand at a novel. Granted, none of these works turned out to be very good, but I loved it. When I went to college, I gave up the dream to pursue a more "serious" career. I set my writing aside to focus on my studies, my career, and eventually, my family.

Obviously, that was a number of years ago, but the dream of writing has never really gone away. About ten years ago, I began to journal. I found the practice enjoyable and even relaxing as I was able to explore and express my thoughts and feelings. No one was judging my grammar or my content. No one even read an entry without my permission.

As much as I loved to write as a child, I have found that the gift I took for granted in my younger years does not flow as freely now that I am an adult. More times than not, I am haunted by what some have called the tyranny of the blank page. I have tried to tell myself that I am just collecting life experiences now and that the creative writing juices will flow again later, but what if that is not true?

When Mark began this blog and asked me to contribute, I was excited for the opportunity to write. I was also nervous. Perfectionism plagued me with all sorts of questions and doubts. My mind literally went blank when trying to decide on my first blog topic, thus, this entry.

I remember hearing a long time ago that an author's best material comes from what she knows and where she is at. As I embark on this blogging journey, I am pushing through the terror within me at the prospect of becoming vulnerable by allowing others to read what I write. Hopefully, some will enjoy what I write and maybe even connect with what I have to say.

I have decided to embrace a childhood dream that I feared might be dead, and I doubt that I am alone in that experience. Do you have a childhood dream that you have begun to pursue again or would like to pursue again?

An Example

I am an avid basketball player/fan, and I regularly get up at 5 in the morning to go play basketball at a local church. If you are thinking that is way too early to do anything, much less play basketball, I have to let you know that we regularly have more than 10 guys there to play. The normal routine is for us to shoot around a bit and then we gather in a circle to pray and get the teams organized. Recently, my friend, who usually gets the guys organized and prays, was unable to play for several weeks. Because I am one of the older guys and have been playing there regularly for about 1 year (and because I wanted to start playing!!!), I stepped into the void and decided I would handle those duties in my friend’s absence.

Yesterday while I was playing, a young man disagreed with a foul I called on him. I probably don’t have to tell you that pick-up basketball can sometimes get quite competitive, and we do occasionally have arguments over foul calls. To be fair, I don’t call many fouls and, looking back, I probably shouldn’t have called that one. Nevertheless, I did and he honored the call although he didn’t think it was right. A little while later he grabbed a rebound over my head and I think I may have pushed him as he was coming down. Honestly, it was imperceptible to me, but just as he was stepping away from me after returning to the floor I realized that I had pushed him. He looked at me and commented that we needed to talk after the game. It wasn’t a threat, and he wasn’t being hostile but more just a statement of fact. Once the games that morning had ended he came up to me, and we had a brief conversation.

This young man expressed to me that he had just become a Christian and asked me about where I went to church. He went on to explain that he looked up to me as an example because I had been the one to pray that morning. I apologized to him for pushing him on the rebound that I mentioned above. We had a good conversation and we parted on good terms.

Not until I was on my way home from the gym did I fully realize the impact that his statement about me being an example had on me. I suddenly realized the gravity of the situation. By praying I had put myself in a position PUBLICLY to represent Jesus Christ. I recognize that I represent Christ every day in all that I do, but somehow this seemed different. The guys at the gym only see me for that short amount of time on the basketball court. To be frank, this is probably the place where I come in contact with more people who don’t acknowledge Christ than at any other time of my day. To be sure, this experience has made me re-think how I act on the basketball court. I certainly will be more conscious of my actions towards others.

Because I am a follower of Christ I am an example for others of who He is. If I lived with this thought always in mind would I act differently than normally do? This is the question on which I intend to meditate. I hope that my answer is no. Do you have an answer to that question?

The Beginning...

About a week ago my wife, Michelle, and I were attempting to have a conversation with each other in our drafty old house after I had come home from work. Sometimes, our 4 children do not have the same plans. Our daughter was walking around the house singing Christmas carols, one son was following us around constantly asking us how to spell Christmas words, our youngest son was not feeling well, and our oldest son was just thrown into the Christmas chaos. Suddenly both Michelle and I realized that we were living a scene from “It’s A Wonderful Life.” I have to admit – it was hilarious!!! We had a good laugh!

“It’s A Wonderful Life” is such a good movie. It is becoming a Christmas tradition in our home to have the whole family sit down and watch it. My favorite moment in “It’s A Wonderful Life” is at the very end when all the people come to help George and then the telegraph comes in from Sam Wainwright and Harry shows up. The closing scene always brings tears to my eyes. I think it must be because George fully realizes how much of an impact he has had on others. I have to admit that my heart yearns to make this type of impact on people. I have come to understand that I can do this by following my heart to serve others. In fact, I am beginning to see this become a reality in my life. There are just too many ways to explain right now, but I hope to expand on this in the future.

I believe that the reason for the Christmas season, Jesus Christ, is the One who has instilled in me the heart to serve others. By serving others, I am able to share just a small portion of what He has done for me. Amidst all the craziness of this time of year I am stopping to remind myself that this really is a wonderful life!

I am new to blogging and this is just the beginning of me learning how to write well. Please come along on my journey.