Category Archives: Uncategorized

Hospitals, Holidays, and Plans

It has been a week. A long and tiring week. I wasn’t feeling the greatest due to an extreme amount of tree pollen in the air, in my nose, in my eyes, etc. It seems particularly bad this year. I usually don’t have this much trouble with allergies until later in the year when the ragweed begins to bloom. But, my allergy issues aren’t really a problem when you consider what happened to my 15-year-old son.

Around noon on Friday he texted me to tell me he wasn’t feeling well. “My stomach hurts.” I told him to try to make it a couple of more hours to the end of the school day. No such luck. Within the hour he was in the school office and I was calling his older brother to pick him up and bring him home.

Long story short, he ended up in the hospital with appendicitis. Saturday afternoon his appendix was removed, and Sunday afternoon we were all back home. He didn’t sleep well (obviously), I didn’t sleep well, my wife didn’t sleep well.

What a weekend.

Thank goodness it was a holiday weekend. We all had an extra day to recover. And for a bonus, I had Tuesday off.

Friday morning I commented to a few people about having four days off and absolutely no plans!

Ha!

Friday afternoon I began scribbling down a few ideas of what I’d like to accomplish over the four days. Oh well. We make plans. God chuckles. We adjust.

No yard work. No writing. No organizing the house.

I was able to read quite a bit.

While in the hospital we watched a few movies too. Not my ideal way to spend time, but it was relaxing.

I’m now looking forward to the next week or so, as school finishes for the year, and we can plan some activities as a family.

We’ll make our plans. God will chuckle. We’ll adjust.

Have a great week my friends!

I Have A Confession To Make

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What in the world would I possibly want to confess on a blog? Deep dark secrets shouldn’t be confessed in public. Should they?

Well. Here it goes.

I cheated. I cheated on all my friends and acquaintances who are non-fiction writers.

I read a novel.

I’ll let this sink in for a minute…

Okay. Now that you’ve hopefully gotten past the initial shock, let’s discuss what led me astray.

I was bullied. A group of friends ganged up on me and insisted I leave the comfort of my non-fiction world. They tempted me with words like “fantasy”, “creativity”, “growth”, and “relaxation”.

It took them a while. But after months of pushing I finally gave in to their sweet temptations.

“I’ll just try it once”, I said to myself. “I won’t get hooked.” “I’ll be able to stop.”

I’m still clinging to those words. But it isn’t easy. Now that I finished one, I’m finding so many others to try.

I must stay strong.

The novel I read was recommended by numerous people. Is it possible they conspired against me and all recommended the same book?

What book?

11/22/63 by Stephen King

I couldn’t put it down. Seriously.

This past Saturday was dreary and rainy. I had the day off. I don’t think I ever left the house. I didn’t even turn on the baseball game.

I read the last 400 or so pages in one sitting. I’m not even sure if my family was home. They must have been. Someone must have taken the dog out at some point, right?

All kidding aside, it was great to get out of my comfort zone and read for pleasure.

11/22/63 is a huge book. If you’re thinking about reading it, and I highly recommend you do, don’t let the size get in the way. It’s a fast read. It keeps your attention. It also makes you think.

While it isn’t a horror novel, as many would expect from King, it does make you pay attention and it may cause some issues with your dreams at night. Nothing scary, but not your normal dream process either.

One thing that attracted me to this particular novel is the historical aspect. It is based on a specific event in U.S. history. The Kennedy Assassination.

I’m very much into presidential history. Not too long from now I’ll have read at least one biography for every president.

So there it is.

I cheated.

If you’re like me, and I know a large majority of you reading this have similar interests to mine, I recommend it’s time for you to cheat too.

Go ahead. You can do it. Trust me.

What novels have you recently read that you’d recommend? Make sure you tell us why you liked it!

Love, Sex, Dating

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How’s that for an attention getter!?

Yes, you guessed it. The topic of this post will be awkward. But you know, sometimes awkward is the only way to handle something, and usually it turns out to be the best way.

The attention grabbing title comes from the book “The New Rules For Love, Sex, & Dating” by Andy Stanley. Andy is the lead pastor and founder of Atlanta-based North Point Ministries. Andy is an outstanding writer, and an even better speaker. Through his teaching and writing, God has changed many lives. He certainly has had a big impact on mine.

While this book discusses and addresses the full spectrum of Love, Sex, and Dating, I believe the most powerful quote I gleaned from it is this:

“Become the person the person you are looking for is looking for.”

Read that a couple of times. It’ll hit you after the second or third time.

This sentence really is the main emphasis of the book. No matter what area of your relationship you want to work on, this sentence sums it up.

We can’t change the other person. We can only change ourselves. Period. Until that commitment is made, nothing else really matters.

As always, Andy Stanley pours himself out through his words and ideas. I even made a little note to myself after reading the first dozen or so pages: “Even in this book, Andy’s intent is to EMPTY his cup.” As a leader, I’ve never seen someone empty themselves better than Andy. In everything he does, he is trying to empty his cup so others may be filled. That my friend is the essence of a servant leader.

The desire Andy has to pour himself out is why he wrote this book. (There’s also an accompanying sermon/podcast series. I’ll post a link at the end.)

Here are a few quotes I made sure to write down as I read:

“Couples generally don’t have relationship problems. They have problems they bring to the relationship.” p.58

“Porn is job security for marriage counselors and divorce attorneys.” p.123

“She’s not a commodity. She’s a person. She deserves the truth.” p.126

“The essence of romance is discovering that the sole object of your affection has chosen you to be the sole object of his or her affection as well.” p.162

These are a small sampling of the “truth bombs” in this book.

While I recommend men and women both read this book, I want to specifically encourage the men reading this.

GUYS, there is one specific chapter that is a MUST READ.

Chapter 6: The Gentleman’s Club

I’m not going to fill you in on it. I want you to find the book and read it. Even if the ONLY chapter you read is chapter 6.

Disclaimer: I received this book from North Point Publishing (andystanley.com) in exchange for this review. But you need to know, I would have bought it and read it anyway.

I have two teenage boys at home. This book is exactly what I want them to read and exactly what I want to awkwardly discuss with them. Moms and Dads, single men and single women, should ALL read this book.

Here are some links to purchase the book and to learn more about Andy Stanley and the work of North Point Ministries.

Book: Love, Sex, & Dating

North Point Ministries: http://northpoint.org/

Andy Stanley: http://andystanley.com/

Be blessed my friends.