The Edible Everything

If there is one thing I have enjoyed since I was born (according to my mother) it's eating. 

I was eating Cheerios by the time I was a few months old (ask my mom if you're wondering if that's possible). In my middle school days when I was 6 foot 1 and 13 years old, I could eat 6 McDonalds double cheeseburgers, a large fry and a dessert in one sitting with ease. In my high school basketball days, I recall once eating an entire bag of 8 frozen chicken patties (cooked and put on buns of course), 2 full bags of family sized chips, a big bowl of cheesy potatoes, a whole sleeve of packaged fig bars and 2 slices of my mom's famous peanut butter pie-all in one sitting (my mom yelled at me, but all I could tell her was the typical teenage boy phrase, 'I'm hungry.') I don't quite have the epic appetite I used to have now, though every once in a while, it creeps up on me. 

I find myself currently watching cooking or food challenge shows often thinking 'that looks so good.'

My little girl has a similar desire to eat. She likes food. though the target is less than ideal. It's anything. And I do mean anything. Anything and everything. 

Everything must be tasted, everything must be tried, and everything must be attempted to fit into the mouth. 

Regardless of what the item is, the same reaction happens. Her eyes widen, she stares at it briefly for a few seconds and then makes the final pounce with her best impersonation of a toothless version of Jaws.

Mom and Dad's iPhones. 'I'm gonna eat that.'

A deck of cards. 'Yummy.'

A soft, fuzzy blanket. 'Interesting flavor.'

(Don't fret, worried people. She doesn't get near anything she could choke on).

And It amazes me how, to her, the bigger the item, the more reasonable it seems to be able to eat. 

Her hands and feet. 'These would taste good but might be better with some oregano.'

A basketball. 'Definitely gonna take that down.'

A guitar. 'Tastes like a smooth tree.'

And of course, her favorite, any flat surface that sits in front of her. Counters, tables, edges of desks, and the little eating area that sits on her high chair. She literally bends the top half of her whole body downward and tries to chew whatever yummy surface that apparently screams 'eat me!' and like the Cookie Monster nearly lets out a 'Num num num!' as she sinks down.

She must've heard the saying 'the world is your oyster' a bit too soon (oysters are gross by the way) and has taken it a bit to literally. But in any case, this I think can teach me one thing. Life is full of wonderful tastes around every corner that are waiting to be tried. 

I just wouldn't advise following this literally. It might be cute as a baby but it doesn't work so much as an adult or even a teen. You'd most likely get thrown out of every public establishment imaginable and then be questioned for what sort of physical and/or mental disease you might have with the possibility that you might lose friends because of your disturbing 'I must taste EVERYthing' problem.

Just stick to the metaphor of 'tasting life' and you should be fine.

Why I Write

Those who know me best know that I'm a writer. It's a piece of who I am.

But something has been said to me multiple times lately that's bothered me. It irritates me as well as motivates me yet it hurts.

It's "why do you do you write?" "You're not a professional unless you're published right?" "Do you want to get 'big'?" "You know that probably won't happen right?" "Good luck with that" (sarcastically). 

I want to be clear in my response for me and anyone else who might be reading this. 

I don't write because I want thousands or millions of people to read it. I don't write because I'm craving attention. I don't write because I want approval or compliments. I don't write to share it on Facebook or Twitter or any social media outlet in the hopes it will go viral. I don't write to get published. I don't write in desperation that one day I'll make money.  

I write because I love it. 

Glory is not a goal. Neither is recognition. 

It's like breathing, I don't know how I'd survive without it. I've struggled with inner cynicism and negativity and confidence issues my whole life. Writing is my therapy, my medication, and more than anything (because I journal them throughout the day) my prayers to The Living God.

As my bio on this blog states, I write things here to have an impact on someone. If it's a fellow reader then that's awesome. I couldn't ask for more than to have an influence on another human being's life. But often, the person my writing have an impact on is me. 

Writing words down onto a page (or phone or tablet) helps to keep myself lively and seek out light and goodness. It silences my strong tendencies to be upset or stressed or angry or negative and helps the darkness inside me be vanquished. More often than not, I don't know what I'm trying to say until I'm done writing. It's as if someone else wrote it. And the finished product ends up being words I needed to hear and help lift my spirit.

I don't do it for any other purpose. 

So if you're still reading this, know that I will continue to write here. I will continue to write poems. I will continue to write sermons. I will continue to write books.

I might release pieces by myself on Amazon or Smashwords or other "self-published" locations. I might send them to publishers and hope to get a response. I might keep them completely to myself. 

It doesn't matter to me what happens. 

In the end, I'm writing.

And that's what I love.

The Who in BBQ

Putting away food has been one of my specialties since I was 12. You name the the amount and I could probably honk it down.

So you could say that I have a mild affection for it.

This weekend, my wife and I were in Texas Hill Country and found a barbecue place that is somewhat of legendary status nationwide. It's called the Salt Lick in Driftwood, TX. And it was heavenly. 

They have an open fire pit at the front of the restaurant where large portions of ribs, brisket, sausage, pork, and turkey are all smoked to a sweet glazed perfection.

I was like a little boy in a candy shop. Only my candy was portions of tender brisket, succulent ribs, and smoky sausage. But what I think I'm going to remember most about this meal will not just be the food. If will without a doubt be who I shared it with.

The conversation I had with my wife was awesome. And the non-stop laughter we shared at our daughter who was screaming out of excitement to let everyone in the place know how great her hanging bell toy was lit up the night more than the flames that cooked our food.

Yes the burnt ends of the brisket melted in my mouth (literally like butter). Yes, the ribs slid off the bone with ease. But what I'm going to take in most is who I spent it with. 

And how it's one of my most cherished memories already. 

It's been said by many wiser people than me before but it's worth saying again.

It's not necessarily about WHAT in life but WHO. And WHO will makes your WHAT that much more meaningful.

A few words of wisdom from an upcoming book!

Some words of truth in my book I'm currently putting finishing touches on,

'Big INsights: A Semester's Worth of Small Truths'. Let me know what you think!

Don't let your problem with the world be that everyone is not just like you. 

Jesus died for you, Jesus died for me. Jesus died to set the captives free. But too many think He died for their flag first, when really he died for all who have thirst. 

Should a follower of Jesus retire? I'd like to think not. Because retiring means stopping & we should give all that we've got. 

Grudges push and crush with weight so heavy. But no weight to large for forgiveness.

When it comes to our dreams one of two things can happen.

Either we listen to the loud voices that tell us “No!”

Or we listen to the yes inside that tells us “Go!” 

Move to the Groove

I love music. I love singing it while I'm in the car. I love tapping my hands and feet to it whenever I'm alone. I love playing it on my guitar. I love the sensation it fills within my soul. And I know babies tend to love it as well. But personally, I think it's a little more intense for my daughter. 

I think I have a musician on my hands. Every time she hears music, it nearly makes her a different person in the moment. Whatever was previously happening is officially gone forever because music, glorious music is being played and she simply must stop to listen.

It's like from the moment she was born, she was neurologically programmed to be entranced by the sound of notes playing together. It's as if a hypnotist secretly snuck into the hospital after she was born and while were sleeping during her first few days of life, hypnotized her to go into another state of consciousness while any music played. (Boy that's creepy now that I think about it. New children's horror fiction for me to write possibly?)

Her first 4 months of life, I could often use the power of music to stop any crying, whining, or struggle. I would simple put some on (easy listening, she's not quite ready for AC/DC or Run DMC yet) and she'd stare into the glorious abyss of that sound unlike any other. But now at month 5 she has added a new element to the musical trance. Dancing.

Not sure exactly how to take all the strange new energy music gives her, she lets loose. If she's in her car seat, the arms go up and down, and legs start kicking. If she's lying on her mat, she rocks back and forth while bobbing her head. If she's in her walker she's bouncing up and down, swaying left and right, swerving, moving to the groove, and spinning around with a 360 that finishes in a perfectly executed moonwalk (maybe I went a little over the top there). She could be in frustrating pain from her teeth coming in or she could be so tired that the only solution seems to be fussy grumpiness. But when her 'jam' comes on (which is any song with a beat) all pain and fuss is gone and it is time to dance.

I guess I've once again learned a life lesson from this tiny ball of fun known as my daughter. Life is too short not to let loose and dance. 

If you're at the supermarket, dance.

If you're at the football game, dance.

If you're watching a movie at the theater...well...if it's a good movie that you enjoyed, then wait until after to celebrate how much you enjoyed it and then dance. This way, you won't make the other people in the theater angry which could resultin a complaint, which could lead to you getting kicked out, which could lead to you never seeing any movies in the local theater ever again. 

So maybe everywhere might not be the best place to let loose to a song, but still. Live a little, feel the rhythm, move to the music, and dance. 

The Fictional and The Real

I love entertaining fictional stories.

TV shows, movies, books, radio programs (if those still exist). I love it. 

I was reminded of it last Tuesday as one of my all-time favorite TV shows, Parks and Recreation, ended with its Series Finale.

As the final episode played on and each character was given a beyond phenomenal closing, with each character moving forward from some previous help, influence and wisdom from other characters. They all helped each other get somewhere in their life that they might not have thought possible due to other people. 

I found myself so moved. Excited, emotional (don't judge me), and estatic. Something I usually feel when dealing with real-life people in my line of work.

Yet I felt something with these characters. A connection I saw as their fictional lives play out in front of me. It was their story.

Even though it was a comedy, and sometimes ridiculously silly at some points, the characters felt like real people. And I loved to see their story play out.

And I have to ask myself, wouldn't it be something if I paid attention more intentionally with more people's story? Wouldn't it be something if we all did this?

Wouldn't it be something if we all put more focus on the actual stories happening in front of us in real life rather than a digital screen?

Wouldn't it be something if we helped other people had better stories, whether that be by loving, by sharing, by feeding, by discussing, or by lending a hand?

Wouldn't it be something if we were genuinely excited, emotional, and estatic when watching, listening or experiencing our stories together?

Make your story one worth watching and telling. Help someone else have a great story as you live out a great one yourself.

Work with Dad

As most parents know, finding childcare for your baby can be a difficult process. Fortunately for us, though, I have job where our little one can come to work with me. It is definitely something else. 

She does everything with Daddy each weekday. She's with me so much at work you could say she has become an honorary staff member. And she seems to love every second of it. 

My little worker bee hangs in there just fine.

She sits in my lap as I write up emails. (Of which she loves slapping the keyboard as many times as possible. Sometimes even slipping unknown words into them like hkluoijlm and rdmk9oui and my personal favorite 67jdxcf2q3aw once signed at the bottom of a reply email.)

She strolls around in her walker as I research and plan. (Strolling is a slight understatement. It's more like crashing into everything in sight and squealing like a baby pig with every step taken).

She takes naps in a swing that lies next to my desk in my office. (This is, by far, the quietest time I get work done. And strangely, its the most distracting. I guess I've gotten used to the noise).

She even goes to every staff meeting. (My least favorite hour or so becomes her absolute favorite hour or so each week. Don't know why, but staff meetings are apparently the best times to get the most attention from a variety of people and the best time to be alert and awake).

If some of you are reading this and you're thinking "you're nuts" or "How do you actually get any work done?" Let me blow your mind a little bit. I actually work better now than I did before. Not sure if it's because my girl is always keeping me on my toes or what, but my brain is more alert and my willingness to get things done well and get them done right has increased. 

I now get things done with more efficiency and with hardly any procrastination as I inadvertently used to do. I'm not necessarily saying this is how it will always be, I'm just saying it's how it is now. I think the reason I've found myself working even better since I started bringing her to work comes down to one big thing.

I'm constantly reminded of a very big thing: being her dad.

Obviously, I'm reminded by the normal daddy actions, like changing her diaper in the men's restroom, having to take a break to feed her or putting her down under my desk for a nap.

But something much bigger speaks to me. It's the fact that I get to enjoy every aspect of my day because she's there with me. No issue with work seems too big, no stress seems to worrisome, no assignment seems to insane. I get to have my little smiley, joyful baby (please no aw sounds) right here with me during everything that comes with work. 

Nothing can bring me down.

Because at the end of every day, after work, and stress, and difficulties, I get from things that come with the title of my job, I still get to have a title that is one of the best I've ever had: Dad. 

Magic Treehouse

I found a treehouse in the middle of the woods on Saturday.

I was at a retreat with our students and exploring as much as I could of the 150 acre property with a few of our middle school guys. As we progressed for about a mile or so we ended up in a heavily brushed area. Within this brush we saw a ladder leaning on a tree. And above the ladder was a perfectly made treehouse.

I was instantly 7 years old again. I found that if I could, all I wanted to do was stay up there, under the bamboo roof, sitting on the built in chair and enjoy the greatness of this place and where it took my mind and heart.

It reminded me of one of my favorite book series as a kid, The Magic Treehouse. In case you don't know, the series (which is still going on) involves two kids finding a treehouse that takes them through time and going through different adventures in history. 

As a kid reading the books, the series reminded me to believe that anything is possible and it took my imagination to places it had never been before.

That's what this treehouse that we found did for me. It brought me to a point of full imagination. Like I just remembered I was living in a world of possibilities. 

The world is in front of you and it was created as a place full of endless possibilities.

May it be your Magic Treehouse, taking you to do and see the unimaginable as you keep your imagination endless.

New Book Coming This Spring!

*****Below is a snippet of an upcoming short book I'm currently writing, 'The New Dad Chronicles'. With over 30 humorous stories of my first six months as a New Dad, it has definitely been fun to write, and something I think can make people laugh while reading. Stay tuned in the coming months for release info!*****

Chronicle 12

I never felt I’ve had to document much of anything in my life through pictures and videos. In fact I’m pretty sure I even wrote a college paper on how we need to be ‘in the moment’ and need to ‘take away distractions like lenses’ and use the ‘natural camera you’ve always had’ to remember a moment. I was totally against the social media movement.

I’d like to meet my college-aged self now and smack him in the face with a book of pictures because all of those philosophies died the second our girl was born. From the moment that I first held her I felt a compulsive need build inside me like I’ve never had before. “I’ve gotta take a picture of this.”

Those words might as well be the slogan for my life. Never before have I felt the need to have physical proof of each moment than when I became a new parent. 

“Oh, she smiled! Gotta take a picture.”

“Oh she laughed! Take a video.”

“Look she’s sleeping!” Click.

“Oh man, she’s in her walker!” Click.

“Wow, she’s rolling!” Hit the red button.

“Oh look she smiled again!” Click.

“And wait...wait now she’s sleeping!” Click.

“This is just all too good to miss.”

It’s like my wife and I are in a never ending photoshoot for a 2 month old where we are desperately trying to get her attention so that she’ll look at the camera without moving her head for a good second and a half. I’m not sure why this is or what exactly is wrong with me, but I feel as though I’m going to miss any moment after this one and I’ll be in regret of it for the rest of my life. It’s like I have this subconscious fear that one day, I’ll be sitting in a cave with my wife in future post-apocalyptic world with a wardrobe full of pictures and videos and still will disappointed that I didn’t catch that ‘one’ moment on camera. Being a parent is weird.

On top of everything else, before my daughter, I never took selfies. And I do mean never. Just writing the word makes me cringe. But for reasons I still don’t quite understand, I find myself taking the camera out and focusing on both me and her, sometimes taking ten because I’m horrible at keeping my hands still. 

"Here's us on the couch." Click.

“Here’s her asleep in my arms on the couch.” Click.

“Here is me talking to her so that she’ll smile even though she’s just looking at me confused.” Record.

I’m strangely confused and fascinated by this need.

And the thing about taking pictures and videos and documenting everything I deem as important or cute comes down to one notion I didn’t know to be true before. I can never have enough pictures of my kid. I can never have enough videos of my kid. I can never have enough pictures of my kid watching videos of themselves looking at pictures.

I never understood why my parents had boxes and boxes of pictures of myself and my siblings. I honestly thought it was pretty creepy when I was twelve. I was so dumb.

Well played, Mom and Dad. I get it now. 

Kids are the best. And I have proof. 

Lots and lots of proof.

Florida Basketball and Friendship

My family and I went to a college basketball game the other night between the University of Florida Gators and the Texas A&M Aggies.

It was a good game with a finish I wasn't particularly fond of but that wasn't the reason I was there. I was there to see my good friend, Jake, who plays for Florida in person (finally). 

It was surreal and it was awesome. In fact, let me clarify: it was PURE AWESOMENESS.

By far one of my favorite moments I've experienced. I got to see a friend I grew up with, whom I play basketball together and went to school with (though he was 5 feet 2 inches tall when we were 14 and he is now about 6 feet 6 inches) live out a dream. 

I mean I've watched close to probably 100 games since he first was on the team a few years ago on TV but seeing him in person play out something that nobody else thought possible is something I can't stop thinking about.

In talking with him after the game, I couldn't help but see in his eyes, past the disappointment of the loss, that he was loving what he was getting to do. Jake loves playing division 1 basketball at a major university.

And I think he could tell from our talk that I love what I get to do with my job (seriously, I love living a long dream I've had) and how much I'm loving life with my wife and new baby girl. 

Seeing friends reach their goals and dreams inspires me that much more to continue to love where I'm at and what I'm doing. Not just Jake, but many other friends do this for me.

Friends who are now doing things they always dreamed of. Some are teachers like they strived for. Some are working in real estate. Some are coaching. Some are traveling the world and making a huge difference in others' lives.

Look around you with the friends or family you have. It doesn't matter if they live far away or you seem them every day. Look for them. 

May you see the amazing possibilities in each other. May that make you proud to be their friend. And may that make you strive for something surreal and awesome. 

Something that is pure awesomeness.

Pam's Birthday

It's my wife's birthday today. 

She never ever ever wants anything. Seriously nothing. I've been with her for 9 years and she literally tells me she wants nothing every time. 

And although that seems easy on me it's anything but. In fact it drives me nuts. I always try to surprise her with things and gifts and dates but she'd never ask for any of it and would be fine, maybe even happier, without it.

Even though this does indeed drive me crazy on holidays and her birthdays, it really just makes me jealous.

I want to be like that for birthdays and holidays. Because quite frankly no matter how much I say it, there's still that little kid inside me that halfway wants to get blown away by some amazing gift that I didn't need. 

And I know I'm not alone in that. I want to be content with what I have and will still try to do so everyday.

I just hope I can truly rid myself of the wanting as much as my wife has because then it only makes me want what I already have that much more awesome. And what I have in her is better than awesome or any other great adjective in the English language. 

So happy birthday Pamela. Thank you for driving me crazy and thank you always making me see how incredible it is with what I have in front of me...

You.

Sick

Being sick is not fun. It's even worse when it's your own fault. 

I've had a cold the past couple of days and it's primarily because, as my wife loves to point out, I do too much sometimes. This is more than likely true.

I love what I get to do on a daily basis. I love working with students, going out my way to shine a light in whatever way I can and seeing them grow up to become awesome people of God.I love dreaming and building ideas, being the best father I can be, and spending the mornings and evenings with my best friend, my wife.

But I also love other things too. I love playing slide guitar and making up songs. I love working out and riding my bike. I love taking walks with my dog. I love shooting baskets on an hoop as long as I have a ball for hours and hours. And love reading and most definitely writing-whether that be writing books or poems or blogs. 

But the problem is, there aren't enough hours in the day. Sometimes I try to do it all. And this usually brings me to the point that I get myself sick. I do so much that I forget to take care of myself.

Which is where I have been all weekend and today. At home with a stupid cold, sick. 

What I need to learn and know is that I cannot do it all. There are times for certain things but not times for EVERYTHING. 

So if you're like me and you want to do it all or you have the aspirations to, take strides in this race of life step by step instead of sprinting all at once. 

This helps to take care of yourself. In doing this, it will help ensure that you will still have a 'self' around longer to accomplish and do what it is you feel led to accomplish and do. Those things won't get done by you if there's a healthy you isn't around in the first place.

So go for it all. But do so step by step and pace yourself so that YOU may finish the race along with what you feel led to do.

Bad Day

We all have bad days. Maybe we hardly got any sleep last night and we can't handle it. Maybe hot coffe spills on your legs or you slam your finger in the car door. Maybe it feels like people-co-workers, co-students, family or friends-are out to get you. Maybe the issues your have inside are difficult for you to deal with and you're not sure how to react outwardly.

No matter what it is the bad days still have good moments.

I realized this the other day when my day wasn't going particularly well.

As my day rolled along I was stopped when my daughter laughed. And laughed and laughed and laughed. And somewhere in there she grabbed her feet and kicked her legs excitedly.

In this one moment, so brief and short, I forgot all about my bad day due to the joy and contagious goodness from my little girl.

I have to say, found that I felt my best within this tiny instance of my rough day.

Every day-even a rough one-has bright moments. They might show up unexpectedly or you might have to look for them. Sometimes it's from sunlight piercing through the clouds, or a stranger's kindness or a baby's uncontrollable laughter, but the bad days will never outshine the good moments in the end.

Don't let them get the best of you because the best of you comes from finding the good within the bad.

Pain

Pain sucks.

It hurts, stings and like a knife seems like it's only going to sink deeper.  It wrings, writhes, it rips and it wants to stay.

And it sits bringing us to a point of crying, calling out, or maybe even screaming for it to leave. 

It's not fun-never fun.

This past weekend has been a heavy one in our church, full of plenty of hurt, too much pain. So what is there to do in the midst of it? That's a question that is always asked. How do I get over this? Is there ever a way to move past this?

To tell you the truth, I. DONT. KNOW. And I don't think I ever will. I don't think any of us ever will know exactly what to do. But I think that's okay. Sometimes the pain is too much to handle that we don't know what to do.

Our pain might remain. It may build and tears us up or may it grow or lessen. But it's not the only thing that will remain constant.

There is also the One True God.

You might not know what to do or where to go or how to react. You may not get an easy and clear answer of prayer with full understanding and guidelines of what to do but that's not the point. 

The point is that God is there. God will help you along the way. God will ease the pain. 

Remember this in your struggle and especially in your pain.

Because God never forgets about you in the midst of it.

Hope Wins

Here is a little piece to maybe help you or inspire you today that I wrote 2 years ago on Martin Luther King Day.

“Hope Wins”

In the times of your struggles,

In the wight of your pain,

May you not feel like your are wasting away.

There is hope for you daughters & hope for you sons,

Hope that says your soul will not be undone.

Hope that fights far past all of the bleeding,

Hope that defends when life give you a beating.

He comes in the form of being with you at all times,

Even when all sound is as loud as a mime.

He comes being for you, no force stands against

His power & love, so don’t lost this sense

Of having nothing to fear, nothing large nor small,

For this hope, my friends, is the God of all.

Something New

Heard one of the strangest sounds ever today. It was a piece of music and now that I think about it, I'm still trying to figure out what exact entered my ear canal.

It was like hearing pans tapped together so softly while going through an orb of an echoing stream of water.

It. Was. Odd.

I quickly found, I wasn't alone in this this opinion. My daughter, Adella, was making the exact eyebrows-raising, head-tilting, what-in-the-world-is-that-noise face. And a thought popped into my head. We both experienced something for the first time-together.

It was weird sure, but it was new. And it stirred my interest a little bit. Because as I heard it I thought-'what is that?' along with 'never heard anything like that before'.

It is interesting to me because a natural thought of fatherhood is that a man tends to grow in wisdom and gains wealth of knowledge to share with their children. This is true-to a point. Because as my parents told me and as I now know as I'm living it, we haven't been through it all. 

And I'm glad. We still have lots of new things to experience each day we are given.

It's refreshing to know there's still a whole world out there for me and everyone else to discover. One that we can share that same feeling with each other.

We have a chance to experience and see and comprehend something new every single day. That's a privilege. That is something special. And I think that can be a beautiful thing. 

Obviously not everything new is good or even awesome to go through. Sometime it's odd like a strange piece of music that confuses you. Sometimes it's a war or the death of a loved one. But regardless we get that chance to know something new and have experience in it. 

Make it something meaningful. 

Make it something you or others won't regret.

Take in that chance.

And be thankful you are a person who gets to have new experiences.

Stuart Scott

One of my childhood role models past away yesterday after a long bout with cancer. His name was Stuart Scott. Longtime ESPN broadcaster who made SportsCenter fun to watch.

In the 7th grade I thought the coolest thing in the world would be to have his job (after my professional basketball career was over of course). Watch sports, talk about them on tv AND get paid for it!? It seemed like the best gig around.

Now, I have obviously gone a different route in my life with different interests taking over other ones. But I never in a million years would have said that I wanted to be a newscaster or a sportscaster. That just wasn't me. 

But for some reason when this man, with his signature catch phrases like 'Boo yah', 'cooler than the other side of the pillow' and numerous others, came on tv and covered sports news, it was exciting, hilarious and awesome all at the same time. He brought life to the moment.

And I wanted to be like him.

Though, quickly after looking into sports journalism, I realized it just wasn't for me, but still...he was one of those personalities that drew you in. He made you want to mimic him. He made you interested in his trade even if you weren't really interested at first. He had a contagious liveliness when you watched him like no other in his position.

He had an iconic speech this summer where he talked about his fight with cancer and summed up this contagious liveliness he possessed with one quote:

"You don't lose to cancer when you die. You beat it by how you live, why you live and the manner in which you live."

Replace the word cancer with whatever it is that you feel that might be beating you or hurting you and you will see something here. 

There is truth and power in these words for all of us.

May you bring life to each moment.

May you live with contagious liveliness.

May you beat your struggles, pains, addictions and ailments by how you live, why you live and the manner in which you live.

The Will I's

Happy New Year! 

With 2015 here it's time for all the excitement, all the potential of what could happen. Many of us ask all these questions of the possibilities. And many times it comes in the form of the 'Will I's'.

Will I lose all that extra weight? 

Will I finally finish that dream I started?

Will I finally find 'the one?'

Will I stop drinking?

Will I pray more?

Will I go out of my way to love more and care for more through my actions and not just my words?

For me personally, the turn of the new year for the past 2 years makes me a little sad as I miss my old friends from Central Florida as I sit here in the Greater Houston Area in Texas. So I ask 'Will I get to see them soon? Will I form relationships again as close as I was with those people?' 

No matter what goals we might set or what we would like to see happen the 'will' questions are always in the back of our mind whether we realize or not.

And most of the time, what we would like to see happen doesn't. 

We allow the 'Will I's' questions to remain questions. Or if we fail to let ourselves see what we would like to see in ourselves, we might just take the "there's always next year" approach so we end up in the same cycle all over again.

We must leave the 'Will I's' behind.

If you have a heart beating in your chest and two able-bodied feet you do one thing. You say 'I will.'

You keep moving. 

You don't stop. 

You put one foot in front of the other, use the willpower that God gives and you keep moving.

You will.

Using your will to keep going is what allows opportunities to arise. So you might not lose all the weight this year because of unexpected events or you might not have prayed as much as you'd liked to or you might not have spent as much time with your family as you wanted or you might not find those friends that will be there for you until the end of it all.

But as long as you're still alive, you have a chance every moment in any day, month, or year to see new opportunities come and have a chance for it to happen.

Forget the 'Will I's'.

 

Focus on the 'I wills'.

And keep going.