My last 24 hours were contrasts on such heightened levels I honestly don’t know where to begin.
On Sunday evening I had the privilege of being a groomsman in a wedding of two lovely people who joyfully celebrated the beginning of a new life together.
On Monday I found out that a buddy of mine was hit by a car while on a morning jog and being held in the ICU in critical condition after emergency brain surgery.
Read More- Part 2 in a Study of Contrasts -
For nearly my entire childhood, life felt easy.
Friendships came easily, good grades came with little effort, even my junior high saxophone days had me playing first chair in the concert band. I won free stuff in high school (a CD player, a week at Magic Johnson’s basketball camp, even a trip to Europe) and I got in to the colleges I wanted. I even got a convertible for my 16th birthday.
I didn’t realize it at the time, but I had formed a worldview where everything seemed to go my way, and that although “hard work” was required to achieve, my awareness of hard work was quite limited.
Read MoreI woke up this morning to the pitter-patter of rain. I couldn’t help but offer a cozy smile as I pulled the blankets over me just a little more.
There is something inherently so soothing about rain, especially here in Southern California where it has been in such short supply these days.
Just like the gentle breeze on a spring day invites us out, rain invites us in.
Read MoreI had no idea when I started this that so much space would be taken up with confessionals, but apparently there has been a need to get a lot of stuff off my chest lately. I’ve struggled with my role as a Christian businessman, I’ve admitted my fears, and now it’s time for me to confess a deep, piercing addiction…
Read MoreForgive me as I offer up another confessional. I don’t love blogging… The truth is, it plain old scares me to death.
Blogging scares me because it requires an element of creativity. And creativity is vulnerable. And if I’m honest, I don’t like being vulnerable; it leaves me feeling incredibly exposed—almost worse than the I just noticed that I was naked at school dream we all had as kids.
Some might argue that I have control over just how much exposure I choose to reveal on this blog, and I suppose I could follow their advice, but it’s just not in my nature. I’ve always been a what-you-see-is-what-you-get kind of bloke, for better or for worse.
Read MoreWhen the optometrist pulled out the lenses, proclaiming this is what it’s like without any glasses, then put the lenses back in, the difference was nothing short of remarkable. I had literally no idea what I was missing…
Read MoreI hate saying goodbye. I mean, I’ve learned to be really good at it, almost to the point where I shut off my emotions and just say a warm, but heart-guarded adieu, but last week I had the opportunity to watch my brother pull off in his moving van as he headed two states east and by most measures, I didn’t handle it well…
Read MoreI’ve never really had to deal much with anxiety during my adult life. That is, until recent years…
When I was working as a high school math teacher, I remember feeling anxious, but that seems to pale in comparison to the stress and anxiety I’ve experienced since leaving teaching to work full time on my entrepreneurial interests. Something about ditching all forms of security in the name of adventure will do that to a person, especially if that person is responsible for a family of five…
Read MoreI have this coat that I wear. It is made of fur, and I’ve had it on all of my life. Since birth I’ve been wearing this coat around my shoulders, the heat of it keeping me warm and comfortable. It is such a part of me that I honestly can’t imagine life without it.
I suppose I must admit the weight and heat can be dreadfully uncomfortable at those times when the summer sun is scorching me. No doubt I would like to rid myself of this coat in the summer—when the sun’s light torments the land longer, hotter, and with a concentrated brutality. But like another layer of skin, I refuse to shed this coat of mine—we’ve been through a lot together, you see... I even have a name for the coat. It’s called Self, since I feel it is such an integral part of me; it and me, one in cause, one in duty, one in mission.
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