Yakin'

A group of 4 guys I teach with decided to go kayaking today.  As you you can see above, much like me, my car is oozing with manliness. Tell me the Nissan people weren't trying to contact me about doing a car ad for them today.  It was a peaceful afternoon in northern Delaware.  We skimmed across the water for a couple of miles, stopping to take in a nature site or two. 

 The three guys I went with were an interesting collection.  Tom, our resident science guy, was our tour guide (whether we wanted one or not). His little anecdotes about the stream, wildlife, and anything else science actually added a whole level of appreciation to the experience that I would have bet been annoying.  Chris is a computer wiz, knows his way around an operating system like Magellan in the open sea. What's crazy is a guy that designs websites and fixes computers is also an avid outdoorsmen.  Somewhere along the line he didn't listen to someone that said "you can do one or the other".  Finally, Theado, he's a fellow football coach and soon to be administrator.  He's that rare person that can be a total screw off one second and totally professional the next,  it's a weird and envious trait.

Basically today served as a recharge.  I was out mixing it up with nature in a hunk of plastic and I kept thinking about the first people that ever stumbled upon all of this.  Lewis and Clark rolling along,  every step a new discovery.  I might not have made any new physical discoveries today, but maybe a few about how to slow life down and enjoy what God gave us.  We did have one thing up on lewis and Clark,  we ended our journey with an icy cold beer,  doubt they did the same.

Baby Steps

Lindsey and I went to church this past sunday at the Vineyard like we typically do, we enjoyed the music as usual, commented on the crowd, and once again we we're intrigued by the message. This past sunday Rich Nathan's message has stuck with me more than usual. It was a message about purpose but the underlying theme that I took away was "baby steps". If you haven't heard Rich Nathan speak he has a distinct cadence when he speaks, runs so smoothly together, kinda like that voice that talks over the movie trailers (just not as gravely). He started speaking about people that want to do more things in their lives.... ex:

"If you want to lose weight, then tomorrow morning when you are eating, close your lips"

"If you want your marriage to work, then tomorrow morning be nice to your spouse"

"If you want to pray more, then tomorrow morning pray"

He went on to say it's baby steps. Do it one step at a time. Stop making an excuse for why you can't do this or do that, and simply do it one step at a time....one foot in front of the other. During his message I couldn't stop thinking about Bill Murray in what about Bob, Rich Nathan was becoming my own Dr. Leo Marvin.

Lindsey and I left the Vineyard that sunday and talked about what we heard. We both felt the same conviction, "I need to pray more". So with the baby step philosophy in my head and with a crazy mental patient Bill Murray motto "baby steps" I am going to baby step my way to praying more. I'll focus on one day at a time, tomorrow morning pray, that's it.

What is it you would like to baby step your way too? could be anything....I would love to hear what it is.

Wentworth

I'll be honest. I vowed that I wouldn't ever pick up this "blogging" thing. I remember thinking that I had nothing to say that people would be interested in. Perhaps a fair assessment, however, next weekend we are getting a dog, a puppy to be exact. Soon enough this goldendoodle will come crashing into my pretty simple life and chew us up. So I thought it might be therapeutic if I shared this dog's pure hell raising with you. That way the next time we saw each other you could say things like....How's the living room look now that (dog to be named later) ate half of a pillow and "marked" her territory in your favorite relaxing spot? This should provide a few laughs for you at our expense.

To give you the background on the above title. My brother nicknamed me this back when I was 11 or 12 I believe. The reason still is unsure but he sure got a kick out of calling me it for a good number of years. I'll share more later about my view of the power of a nickname, thanks big bro for giving me a nickname that coincides with someone that possibly looks like milton bradley.