Observing Lent From a Different Perspective (an Ode to Ash Wednesday)...

As today marks the first day of Lent, I felt it worthwhile to explore a few topics on the matter.

First, cycling.

As you may know, I try to spend a lot of time on my bike. I love getting outside, breathing deep of the fresh air and enjoying the songs of birds as I ride through quiet streets. I love the rhythm of the turning of the pedals, and how that rhythm propels the bike quickly down the road. I love riding hills, because the hills make me stronger and I feel like I’ve accomplished something each and every time I summit.

I guess I just love that cycling teaches me so much about life in general.

Faith, The JourneyNathan WestwickFebruary 10, 2016Lent, Life Lessons of CyclingComment

An Unexplainable Change (and The Importance of Friends and Family)

My previous two posts have revealed a crack in my armor, if you will. I have expressed a vulnerability of my own fears and doubts, and openly questioned my ability to navigate through what has turned out to be a fairly difficult stretch. Toss in a dose of mistrust that God truly has my back, and we've got a pretty potent combination...

Faith, Family, RelationshipsNathan WestwickFebruary 4, 2016Trust, Friendship Comment

Mustering the Strength to Fight On…

For most of my life, I’ve felt like a pretty emotionally stable bloke. But lately, it seems my days are bookended by feelings of anxiety at night followed by moods of depression in the mornings.

There are a variety of reasons for these emotions, but most of them are related to my continued realization that life (at least the good stuff) is really tough. That in order to live a full life, there are things I have to face head-on and fight each and every day.

Fighting for What's Good, Life Abundant, Overcoming Fears, The JourneyNathan WestwickJanuary 28, 2016Fighting OnComment

How a Dead Gopher Nearly Crushed my Spirit

Yesterday morning I woke up from a restless sleep so stressed out I felt like crying. Later, as I was walking out to get the paper, I was met with the unexpected sight of a dead gopher on our driveway.

As it turns out, that would serve as a metaphor for my entire day.

Business, Faith, Overcoming FearsNathan WestwickJanuary 21, 2016Trust, Fighting On, Life's Struggles Comment

How My Family and I Were Nearly Robbed on Vacation

I don’t know if you’re like me at all in this, but any time we have designated time set aside for a family trip, I allow my expectations to get the better of me.

For example, before we ever leave, I set in my mind a certain agenda that needs to be followed. Not a traditional agenda, mind you, where certain appointments need to be kept, but an emotional agenda that looks something like this:

Fighting for What's Good, Family, Good vs. EvilNathan WestwickJanuary 13, 2016Vacation Comments

Why I Hate New Year’s Resolutions (But Sorta Do Them Anyway)

This time of year clearly provides us with a natural end accompanied by a natural beginning; something about midnight on December 31st seems to mark a new season filled with new expectations, new hopes, new dreams.

And often, we make New Year’s Resolutions a part of that transition.

They are often borne out of a measure of regret (perhaps spurred on by too many holiday cookies?)—things like losing weight, spending more time with family and friends, getting regular exercise, quitting a bad habit, getting out of debt, etc.

The thing about New Year’s Resolutions is, I never do them.

The Stuff That Matters, Life AbundantNathan WestwickDecember 31, 2015New Years Resolutions, GoalsComment

Joy to the World -or- Don't Waste Your Pain This Christmas

The Christmas season can be a bit polarizing, can’t it?

For some, Christmas marks a time of joy, where we celebrate the blessings of family and friends, offering gifts and treats, time and hugs; it is a time where we experience warmth, joy and child-like delight.

For others, Christmas serves as a brutal reminder of loss, where the “joys” of the season only serve to magnify the pain and suffering on the inside.

Faith, Relationships, The Stuff That MattersNathan WestwickDecember 24, 2015Christmas, Relationships, FreedomComment

I'm Having Trouble Getting Into the Christmas Spirit

I can’t exactly pinpoint it. I’d like to blame it on the recent events in San Bernardino, but I don’t think that’s it. It would be easy to blame it on my busy work schedule, and the disproportionately high number of major decisions I’m balancing at the moment, but I don’t think that’s the lion’s share of it either.

It’s not that our house doesn’t look Christmas-y; we put up the tree and the Christmas lights the day after Thanksgiving, bought most of our presents before December 1st, and have them wrapped and displayed under the tree already.

Family, Being PresentNathan WestwickDecember 16, 2015Christmas Comments

Joy Comes in the Morning???

If you’re mornings are anything like mine, they look something like this:

Alarm goes off; hit snooze; feel guilty for hitting snooze; peel yourself out of bed; make coffee in a quiet house; savor first sip of coffee in a quiet house; smell of coffee wakes children up; kiss them good morning; stare blankly into space until caffeine takes effect; caffeine kicks in just in time to feebly attempt to keep brothers’ hands and feet off each other in the living room; attempts fail; brothers fight over blanket; brothers fight over couch space; brothers fight over who can breathe who’s air; use “getting the paper” as an excuse to escape the noise

Family, FaithNathan WestwickDecember 9, 2015Crazy Life, Finding Joy Comment

When Terror Strikes Close to Home

Today has been a surreal day to say the least…

What started off as a sleepless night thanks to my son’s incessant vomiting quickly morphed into stomach pain of a different sort on my end—that kind that leaves you in distanced denial at first, and then hovers loudly overhead in the form of police helicopters and SWAT vehicles a block from where I was earlier this evening

Good vs. EvilNathan WestwickDecember 3, 2015San Bernardino Shooting Comments

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