Failure to Communicate

July 21, 2010 in Relationship | Leave a comment

This week has kicked my butt, plain and simple. I’ve let stress, sadness, fear, anxiety, weakness and insecurity walk right over me. My problems have overwhelmed my progress; my self has prevailed over my soul. I’ve been caught in a swirl, and for the life of me I can’t fight my way out. Tomorrow is another day.

This morning I tried really hard to push the reset button. I tuned my iPod to an inspirational song and attempted to dial in to God, just for five minutes, just for a brief rest in Him. And I just couldn’t do it. My mind was racing, my thoughts were dancing around, distracting me. I couldn’t even manage to focus for 5 minutes to clear my head and hear God. It was a failure to communicate.

I replayed the song half a dozen times before the charge went out on my iPod. Every time it was the same result. Halfway through the first chorus, my mind was veering off the path, into a landfill of garbage, trash, litter and waste.  As I pulled into work, I whispered, “It’s not you, it’s me.” As frustrated as I was about my inability to connect with God it at least felt good to use that phrase for once and not have it delivered to me amidst a bad breakup. Sorry, I digress. Another issue for another day.

I also felt somewhat healthy that even though I had been defeated by my worldly concerns, at least for today, I was healthy enough to recognize that God wasn’t the problem.

There is a time in a not so distant past that I would have been upset with God for not being there for me. You know, kind of like that cheesy story about the footprints in the sand and the guy says, “Oh, but see back there, dude, only one set of footprints, what’s up with that?” Slightly paraphrasing here. And God responds, “Um, hello, that’s when I was carrying you.” 

Since I’ve been caught in multiple riptides during my visits to the ocean, I will use the following analogy as a less cheesy footprint in the sand example. It’s kind of like getting sucked out to sea with the current. You find yourself flailing for a moment; you see the beach getting smaller in the distance. You hopefully come to your senses and remember the proper technique for swimming out of the pull. And eventually, afer strenuous effort, you drag your tired, weary self back to shore. Beaten down, slightly shaken but alive. The land never moved. You drifted into danger. You got pulled deeper by outside forces. You separated yourself, actively or passively, from the safety of the sand.

In this analogy, of course, God is the beach. He didn’t move. He didn’t wander out of cell service. He didn’t turn His back or fall asleep. I allowed myself to get pulled down and out by the riptides of this world. I allowed issues that expire to trump the eternal.  And as I type this, I’m still trying to work my way back to solid, safe ground. Not having a whole lot of luck yet, but this post was at least a bit cathartic. I’m always disappointed when I let my humanity get the best of me, as it has the past few days. Not surprised, but definitely disappointed. I appreciate knowing that God, like the beach, will welcome me back to His sandy shores if and when I’m able to shake loose of the down and out feelings that leave me at a loss for words. And when I get back into range, He’ll be on the other end. Ready to communicate.

Pride of Ownership

July 19, 2010 in Relationship | Leave a comment

Quality time with the fam at the Lake. God is Good.

Less than three hours after that tweet, three brothers would become two, as a cold lake in Washington took the life of a 24-year-old Christian artist. As I read the article on his death I was initially stunned. I had just played basketball with Israel a week before the accident. I hardly knew him. Didn’t even know he and his brothers were a gospel trio. Didn’t even know his last name. He was just a guy at the gym that occasionally joined us for pickup games. And now he was gone. Taken in his prime.

After I recovered from the initial shock of the article, I meditated on the situation. I just kept coming back to that tweet. God is good.

Any time you see or hear about tragedy, you also see or hear someone questioning why God would let it happen. Ultimately, part of the answer is that we don’t fully comprehend the master plan and that we can’t even begin to understand what God will do through the tragedy that just occurred.

God will no doubt do powerful, great, unimaginably beautiful things through this terrible event. I won’t dare place a bet on what those things might be, but I know they will happen. They always do. Regardless, God decided it was time for the world to say goodbye to this young man. He was ready to reclaim him and use him for His kingdom.

After being stunned, and then meditating on the situation, I thought about how this applied to what God has been showing me lately. What in this is for me personally to learn?

All my roads lately have led to the subject of ownership. God has been delivering messages related to this in many different ways. I mentioned in a previous post that I have been reading some of A.W. Tozer’s work. He talks about the “tyranny of things” and the dangers of getting caught up in the act of possessing. He references the story of Abraham being asked by God to sacrifice the life of his son, Isaac, who he had placed above God in his heart. You all know the end of the story. Abraham is obedient and is about to carry out the act when God presses pause and says he doesn’t have to go through with it. I’ve also talked about being convicted about my stewardship of all the gifts God has sent my way. And then I read about Israel.

I know for a fact that if God called on me today to sacrifice one of my sons, I would act like I didn’t hear him. Huh? Say what? Sorry, bad signal…let me call you back later. Like, much later.  I also know for a fact that if it had been me at that lake, witnessing the death of my brother three hours after tweeting God is good, I’d be angry, resentful and then some. I also know that it doesn’t have to be life and death for me to ignore what God asks of me because of my desire to possess and to own. Not just my family. But my finances. My choices. My personal belongings.

I find it very ironic that despite the spiritual reality that God owns all and we own nothing, our entire society, particularly our economy, is centered on obtaining and attaining. About ownership. About possession. No wonder we are supposed to be in the world but not of the world.

I personally cling far too dearly to things that I think I own. I make decisions almost daily based on things I own or things I’d like to own or things I feel like I need to own. I love my family, and if push came to shove I would have to admit that God doesn’t always rank where He should in comparison to my wife and kids. I’m very thankful I’ve not been challenged as Abraham was. That being said, I am challenged in smaller ways, and unfortunately, I fail more than I succeed when those challenges come calling.

I’ve come to realize that I am much more “of the world” instead of just “in the world” and that pride of ownership is something God needs me to deal with before I can move closer to Him. I need to internalize the fact that I own nothing, and that I am merely caring for God’s possessions. This mindset would make all the difference in the way I approach life.

I need to trust Him to provide for my life and not be so stressed about mortgages and car payments, retirement savings and hip clothes (yes still trying to stay hip, even as I ride the freight train toward 40).

I need to come to grips with the fact that my family is a blessing but also is something He owns. As much as I love them, I can’t allow them to fill the space intended for God, and I can’t try to protect them from His plan. I just have to trust that the God I serve is good.

The Pursuit of God

July 19, 2010 in General | Leave a comment

In a very roundabout way recently, I was introduced to the work of a prolific Christian author named A.W. Tozer. From what I have learned, I’m probably in rare company being a lifelong Christian and having no idea who this Tozer guy was. In his lifetime, Tozer wrote more than 40 books and served in ministry more than 40 years, all without formal seminary training. He is best known for the spiritual classic: The Pursuit of God.

Early on in that book, Tozer says the following:

“Christian theology teaches the doctrine of provenient grace, which briefly stated means this, that before a man can seek God, God must first have sought the man. Before a sinful man can think a right thought of God, there must have been a work of enlightenment done within him; imperfect it may be, but a true work nonetheless, and the secret cause of all desiring and seeking and praying which may follow.”

He had me at hello. And so I’ve been diligently reading two different books by him the past few weeks. You will no doubt witness me citing Tozer in upcoming posts, possibly wrestling with some of the insights he provokes in his writing. All in all, I believe he was graced with the gift of prophecy and has significant wisdom to pass along from God. It also seems to me that at times his take on things can be a bit fanatical and overly zealous. I’m not sure I’m ready to blindly follow everything he has to say, but he has helped me think differently and to challenge some conventional wisdom.

Since my jury is still somewhat out on Tozer, I’d love to hear how others feel about him. Have you been inspired by him? Believe he’s brilliant? A quack? Has it all right? All wrong? Somewhere in between? In the meantime, I’ll keep going deeper into The Pursuit of God and The Purpose of Man and let you know what I learn, both about Tozer and myself.

Genetically Speaking

July 13, 2010 in Purpose, Relationship | Leave a comment

According to the CDC Foundation, humans are 99.9 percent identical, genetically speaking. It is the minute 0.1 percent remainder that accounts for differences ranging from traits as innocuous as hair color to predispositions for a wide variety of diseases.

As much variance as you see among human beings, it’s hard to think about how similar we truly are. At the core, we are mostly the same. Everyone seeks purpose in this world, myself included. We search and we search. And then we search some more. We think there must be some highly unique path we are supposed to take, which is hidden by overgrowth, buried deep in a jungle or the woods somewhere, likely not found if not by top-secret treasure maps or passwords. But at the end of the day, our purpose looks pretty much the same. Well, 99.9 percent of it. 

So, if you are like me and turning every stone in search of your purpose, let me help you. 1. We are to be in relationship with God. To seek a deep intimacy with Him and to worship in Him and with Him. 2. We are to be obedient stewards of his gifts and to use them for the greater good of His kingdom. As I talked about last time, this means using each and every gift we are given. 

If you do both of these things, the rest will work itself out. The final .1 percent becomes just details. Wildly varying details depending on your specific situation, but details nonetheless.  The reality is that we usually focus on that .1 percent that gives us the brown hair or the predisposition to cancer. The .1 percent that makes us a writer or a photographer or a doctor or a missionary or a teacher or…

We focus on the .1 percent, the unknown, instead of focusing on the 99 percent that is laid out simply for us. Be in relationship. Be a steward.

Yes, of course the .1 percent is important. It makes us the unique creatures God created. But we do need to come to an understanding that even though He granted us unique abilities and to some extent unique genetic makeups, he ultimately created us with a very consistent purpose. It is my humble opinion that if we enter into obedience to fulfill the purpose He has so clearly communicated, we will reap the reward of unlocking that .1 percent that will be our unique manifestation, plan, impact and testimony. And that it will be as clear to us as the 99.9 percent He has already shared.  

If we are unable or unwilling to embark on the path He has set, to do good with the 99.9 percent we already know, why do we think He would be compelled to reveal the .1 percent to us? That’s a tough pill to swallow, but it makes me feel a little better. I know that the ambiguity I feel at the moment will continue to dissipate as I get deeper into relationship with Him and improve upon my stewardship. I know there will be a day when I open my eyes and suddenly the rest of His plan for me will become painfully obvious and delightfully clear. Until then, I need to be worried less about how I’m different and more about how I can conform to the universal purpose God has for his people. Care to join me? 

What’s a Talent Worth?

July 13, 2010 in Purpose | Leave a comment

After spending a weekend among artists in Asheville, I once again found myself wrestling internally about whether I am using the talents God has blessed me with in a way that is pleasing to Him. I went to the Bible and searched for references to talents. Found only a couple. The passage I settled on actually had little to do with the talents I was concerned with, at least on the surface. 

Matthew 25:14-30 tells the parable of the talents, but the talents in this parable are actually units of money, not skills or gifts. As I read, I vaguely remembered it from a study once upon a time. Here’s a summary: Just before leaving on a journey, a master entrusts pieces of his property to three of his servants, according to their respective abilities. The first two servants double the value of what they are given and in turn receive praise from the master. The last man buries his talent in the ground so that he can protect and return the talent to his master. For this, he is punished severely for being lazy.

After reading this parable a few times over, I looked up a few interpretations of it to see if I could better understand exactly what God was trying to say to me. I found an article by Ken Boa which did a really nice job: http://bible.org/seriespage/stewardship

It seems God wanted to address my talents as part of a larger discussion on stewardship.

At every kid’s birthday party there will be one gift that gets all the attention while the rest of the toys, clothes, games and cash sit neglected off to the side. It’s not always the flashiest, most valuable gift. In my older son’s case, it usually is something like a $3 stretchy lizard. I’m a lot like that when it comes to gifts from God. I almost always put my talents or spiritual gifts under a microscope and try to deeply analyze their meaning so that I can determine my purpose and where my journey should take me. Meanwhile, I’m missing the bigger picture. I’m ignoring a pile of gifts, some of which are more valuable.  

As Dr. Boa so eloquently states in his article, I’ve been asked to be a steward of the gifts God has placed in my life. Not just spiritual gifts. All gifts. Like the earth, my family, my financial resources, my talents, each day I have to spend. Yes, using my spiritual gifts in the way He intended is a good thing, but if I’m not a faithful steward of the other gifts I’ve been given, I will fall desperately short of the point and be an awful long way away from my purpose.

God wants to use far more than my “talents” to further His plan. He wants to use every resource available to me. Every resource that he has placed within my reach. Every gift He has given.

A Refreshing Take on Success

July 8, 2010 in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

I was pleased to see a news article this morning with a refreshing point of view from one of the world’s most influential people. über billionaire Warren Buffett, in an interview with Yahoo! News and The Huffington Post, says the best advice he ever received was from his father, who taught him the power of unconditional love.

Buffett says, “I mean, there is no power on earth like unconditional love. And I think that if you offered that to your child, I mean you’re 90 percent of the way home. There may be days when you don’t feel like it, it’s not uncritical love, that’s a different animal, but to know you can always come back, that is huge in life. That takes you a long, long way.”

See full article here: http://tinyurl.com/24q27g3

How powerful would it be, if we put this into practice, not only with our children but with others in general?

I don’t know if Mr. Buffett is a spiritual man, but I highly suspect he is. And if you take one look at his charitable efforts, you can see the power of his attempt to love unconditionally. It’s nice when an accomplished businessman who is successful by every definition of the word, points to something as God-given as unconditional love as the key to his kingdom.  Obviously, it isn’t likely that we’ll attain unconditional love for all those we encounter, but if that is where we’re aiming, I can’t help but think we will get closer to the mark more often.

Imitating Art

July 7, 2010 in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

In his 1889 essay, the Decay of Lying, Oscar Wilde proposed that “Life imitates Art far more than Art imitates Life”.  There is indeed a truth in art that is hard to find in life. There is also truth to be found in the artist.

I just returned from a long holiday weekend in Asheville, North Carolina. A fascinating place if you’ve not been there. In a time far, far away, it was a bustling banking town before being hit hard by the depression. Since the 1970s, it’s made a roaring comeback as a destination for tourists nationwide and a home to an eclectic and prolific art scene. As my wife and I (and the kids) walked through the art district along the riverbanks, I paid close attention to the artists hard at work in their natural habitat (and even more attention on my kids who were two seconds away from bringing down an entire studio of ceramics). It occurred to me that they were on to something special (The artists, not my kids. My kids were just on something. Sugar, I think.) 

In fact, three truths about artists and the way they walk their daily lives create a very compelling formula for guiding our spiritual walks.

1. Artists follow their passion. They are dogged about this. They will literally starve for it. They are woefully incomplete without it.  They know who they are as individuals, feel certain about their calling and go after it with every bit of strength they can muster.

2. They use their talents. They wring every drop of talent from their hands and apply it liberally to the world around them. They create. They act. You never see an artist who doesn’t strive to leverage his or her gifts.

3. They are not bound by things of this world. The overwhelming majority of artists I have encountered have chosen a simpler life and are unchained by the materialism that cripples the rest of us. They have chosen to invest in their craft, to work for, with and in something they love.  They aren’t keeping up with the Joneses. They aren’t paralyzed by having to “provide for their family” and yet somehow those who need to, usually do. They also haven’t fallen into the trap of finally “having to grow up and get a real job” and follow the status quo and the norms society likes to impose. Ladders to climb. Things to buy. Appearances to keep. Because of this, artists are able to pursue their dreams with no regrets. Not saying it’s easy, just saying they find a way.

Just stop and think for a moment. What if you were able to follow a clearly defined purpose and be relentless in your pursuit of it? And what if you were able to wring every drop of talent God has blessed you with to further His Will for your life? And what if  you were able to break free from the ties that bind you to this world, the things you hold sacred, in return for an unbound freedom to invest in what God has for you?

I just asked myself these questions and was amazed by how different my life could be if I would imitate a bit of art. Or at least follow the guidance of the artist.

Excuse Me, Excuse Me Not

June 30, 2010 in Obedience, Relationship | Leave a comment

As I was settling in tonight to sink my teeth into a work project that I should have finished during business hours, I felt the need to pause for a moment and read some scripture. Reset if you will. Take a moment to breathe in God and breathe out the toxic attitude I was carrying from a stressful, long, painful day. 

Nowadays, when I read my Bible, I consistently take one of two approaches. 1. I thumb through the appendix looking for a specific topic that I think will speak to me. i.e. fear, sin, purpose, etc. 2. I randomly open the book and let my eyes turn where they may. I’ve had success with both approaches. Tonight, I rolled the dice and landed in Amos. I must say that I have no idea who Amos is, other than he is evidently famous and makes some really good chocolate chip cookies. I have no context for what the book of Amos is about. I do plan to research it after the fact, or after this post as it were.

In Amos, I landed on chapter 9, which according to its title speaks of “the destruction of Israel.” In other words, an upbeat, joyful read. Verses 1-5 basically can be summed up as saying, no matter where you try to hide, I (God) will find you. Whether you “dig into hell” or “climb into heaven” or “hide at the bottom of the sea” or “on the top of Carmel” it says, “I (God) will set My eyes on them, for harm and not good.”

I closed my Bible, feeling good about providing space for the Lord to speak. I briefly pondered the passage, noting that you can’t really hide from God. And then I turned back to my work project. As it turns out, God had more to say. I had grabbed a stray notebook to write in, something my wife had sitting around. After filling up one page with scrawl and scribbles, I turned to the next page and noticed a footer at the bottom, centered with quotations. It said, “How will I be different because of what I have just read?” Hmmm. Odd. I flipped to the next page, and there was the same quotation. It was the footer for every page in the notebook.

So, I stopped. And I asked myself the question. How will I be different because of what I just read? Obviously, I had not fully extracted the message God had for me. So, I meditated a bit longer on the verses and deeply considered how they applied to my life. After several minutes of silence, I broke through to the next level.

I can’t hide from God. That was my initial take. Upon further probing, I found myself contemplating when and how I usually try to hide from God. I do it often. I run from things that are hard. I duck behind my insecurities and fail to act even when it is the right thing to do. I dig a hole with sin, giving into temptation as a way to cope and a way to resist facing reality. Much like an ostrich with its head in the sand. Basically, I make excuses. I have a rationale or a reason for my inability to obey His call, to follow His will, to live by His word. I cast blame on my “human nature” or my “situation” or just life in general.

Some of my most common excuses include, but are not limited to: 

I’m under a lot of stress right now. I just feel uncomfortable doing that. There’s too much going on. I can’t help myself. It’s not the right time. It’s too risky. No one would listen to me. I couldn’t pull it off. I’m not ready. I don’t think that’s really what God has for me. No one is perfect. I’ll do better next time. Today was just a tough day. She/He/They are really to blame. I’m the victim here. I’m not cut out for this. I just need a break. It’s not my place to get involved. She/He/They don’t care what I have to say. I don’t know where to start. It’s just too hard. Tomorrow is another day…

I could SO go on and on and on.

Bottom line is you can’t hide from God. If you want to know Him, to walk with Him, you have to step out from behind the excuses and take ownership of your situation. With two small children, I watch a lot of animated movies. There’s a scene in Madagascar which I love dearly. The penguin mafia has hijacked the ship, but they are having trouble operating it. The lead penguin responds to a sequence of explanations from his comrades by saying, “I don’t want excuses, I want results!” And then he slaps the offending bird across the face. Now, that is the way to approach our walk. No excuses. Just results.

I’m setting a goal for myself to be on the lookout for excuses. To not let myself off the hook so easily and to demand results. To at least understand the drivers behind my excuses so that I understand what it is I’m hiding behind. That will make it easier to step out from behind it. And to stop hiding from what God has for me, whether it is out of fear, lack of faith, sin or another culprit.

After all, I can’t truly hide from Him anyway, so it’s rather silly when you think about it. Kind of like when my kids play hide and seek with me, and insist on going to the same place (underneath the dining room table) where I can clearly still see them even though their hands are over their eyes. That must be what we look like to God when we throw up an excuse as a smoke screen. When we offer up a reason why we can’t obey. Or we try to rationalize our sin. Or cast blame and point fingers. How refreshing would it be if we stood before God and said, “You know, here’s the real reason I have fallen short, or why I’ve been unable to do what you’ve asked of me. So, I’m asking for your forgiveness, but I’m not making excuses.” Ownership is the first step toward true growth.

I’ll close by asking you a question. The same one God asked of me tonight. “How will you be different today because of what you just read?”

Put Me in Coach

June 28, 2010 in Journey, Relationship | 1 comment

Every Thursday night and Saturday morning, you can find me on the diamond, coaching baseball. Well, actually it’s tee ball. Ok, tee ball for three and four-year-olds.  Otherwise known as herding cats.

I really love coaching these kids. But some days I’m tested. A few weeks back, we were attempting to practice. It was 95 degrees and humid. The kids were distracted, even for toddlers. I had two players whizzing behind a tree…together, one running for the hills (literally), a la Forrest Gump. Another with his knuckle shoved up his nose, like a booger-seeking missle. Yet another sniffling and calling for his daddy while ramping up the heebie jeebies.  Another stirring up a cloud of dust with his sneakers. Another pulling at my shorts, asking to play duck duck goose (he wanted to be the cow). And then there was my son. Waiting patiently in the field, in the ready position, anticipating a ground ball coming his way. He was focused. He was locked in. He was listening to me. (If only we could replicate this behavior at home on a consistent basis!)

I was proud of my son that day. He made a decision to listen to the coach and commit to the game of baseball. He wanted to get better. It wasn’t because his dad was out there coaching. Like I just said, he has no problem NOT listening to me whenever he feels the need. That attitude is what I am finally bringing to my walk with God. What we all should bring.  

Psalms 37:4-6 – Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, and He shall bring it to pass. He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.

What I’ve noticed since I truly committed to this journey, since I finally reached a place where I truly yearned for a closer relationship with God, is that I’m a lot like a kid on a baseball field who is actually paying attention to the coach. Who is committed to getting better. Even my mistakes have positive results. For anyone who has played a sport, you know the feeling of hearing a whistle blow and the words, “Let’s try that again!” A coach doesn’t just cheer you when you succeed, they teach you when you fail. Every time you mess up, the coach is there to offer insight and advice If you listen, if you truly listen, you are going to get better.  If you are just playing ball on your own without a coach, or not actively listening to the coach you have, your mistakes will just keep happening and you may not even realize what you’re doing wrong or how to fix it.

Recently, when I step off the path, make a wrong turn, get caught up in poor behavior, I hear Coach. That is much different than it used to be. But because I’m tuned in to my sin, and because I’m finally ready to listen, I’m getting coached. When I make a mistake, it’s a learning experience, not just another mistake. And I’m getting better as a result. Instead of going off-road into a ditch and then off a cliff when I goof up, I merely spend a few moments on the shoulder and then find myself back between the lines.

My son will grow his baseball skills this season if he keeps his focus and commitment. I think many of the other kids will as well. As long as our recent practice becomes a distant memory. After all, whether they are listening or not, I’m there every Thursday and Saturday, coaching the entire time. Offering advice. Correcting mistakes. Teaching lessons. God is a lot like that. So, if you can’t hear Him in times of sin, when you make a wrong turn, then I ask you: Are you committed to the game? Are you  listening? Are you genuinely interested in getting better? Because once you are, you’ll be able to hear Him as clearly as a whistle in your ear.

Happy 80th G-Daddy!

June 22, 2010 in Witness | Leave a comment

Sorry for the radio silence the last several days. I’m mostly apologizing to myself for the writing drought. But if you’re out there reading, I’ll apologize to you as well. I still keep fighting for the daily post. Lately seems like weekly is a tall order. I at least have a good excuse this time. I just got back from an extended weekend in Mississippi, where believe it or not, there are still places the Internet can’t reach. Or cable. Or pizza delivery. But I digress.

We visited my family, gathered for father’s day with the whole crew and also celebrated my grandfather’s 80th birthday. More than 200 people crammed into a mid-sized fellowship hall to wish him well and share his special day. Most of them were close to 80 themselves (or past it). In other words, the club was jumping. I kept looking for the DJ in the corner spinning records.  Sending a shout out to G-Daddy. 

All joking aside, it was a really nice party. It was great to see how many people cared enough to spend part of their Saturday honoring my grandfather. As part of the festivities, everyone was asked to write down a memory they had of him and place it in a wooden box for him to read later. It was a neat idea. I’m still working on mine and will send it to him in the next couple of days. I thought it would be worth sharing some of it with you as well.

My greatest memory of my grandfather is actually a string of occasions. At every point in my life, when someone would discover this man was my grandfather, they immediately would say, “Oh, your grandfather is a great man. He’s a truly great man.” It didn’t matter who it was on the other end of the conversation, it was universal accolades of greatness. Every time.

My grandfather is a man of God, a good Samaritan, a tireless supporter of the church, his family, his friends, his neighbors and his community. He is a gentle man with strong hands and an enormous heart. He is hard-working. He is honest. He is kind. He doesn’t have a selfish or self-serving bone in his body. He’s lived his entire life with others in mind, with service to God in mind. And I can’t recall one moment where I have witnessed anything to the contrary. I can’t recall one person who didn’t think the world of him, who doesn’t still think the world of him.  His legacy, his witness, the impact his life has had on anyone who knows him is obvious.

I would love to say that he is at the top of the list of people who have most significantly shaped me and influenced me, but sadly I can’t. It’s not for lack of effort on his part. It’s from lack of insight on mine. If I had internalized and applied 1/20 of the way he lives his life, I would be so much better off in my walk, in the way I treat others, in life in general. He is a treasure I haven’t fully spent, a gift I haven’t fully received. And as we sang Happy Birthday to him for the 80th time, I realized that I have been remiss in not soaking up every character trait and piece of wisdom from him that I possibly can.

My grandfather walks as closely to God as any man I know. Seems if I’m so interested in doing the same, I’d pay more attention to his success and how he has sustained it. Even through serving our country overseas on the heels of World War II, losing parents and multiple siblings in a variety of ways and standing by my grandmother through a bout with cancer, his resolve has not wavered.

Age hasn’t overly kind, although he maintains good health given the breadth and depth of his life experiences. And even though you have to speak REALLY LOUDLY to him these days to carry on a conversation, you can still see and hear what has made and continues to make this man great. 

My favorite thing about my grandfather is that he is still a bawler, a playa, a mack daddy, a catch if you will. At his party, the groove that it was, he had two women laying claim to him should anything happen to my grandmother. One was a spry, baby-faced 60-year-old shawty.  Go G-Daddy! It’s your birthday!

So, here’s to the great man who is my grandfather. Thank you for the memories.

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Past Stops on the Journey

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