I feel like there is so much good stuff to write about in my life right now, but I’m so buried by all the stuff that I don’t have the time or the energy or the focus to write it. I’ve moved offices, changed job titles, lost more weight, got to reconnect with one of my best friends and have been churning out projects left and right. It’s been an extraordinary week, full of challenges and changes. I’m thankful for everything that is going on… I just hope I can keep up.
The Chargers and Packers both lost today. So much for the Super Bowl. I wish we could have seen a healthy Chargers squad take on the Patriots. It was a close game even with a hobbled quarterback, a hindered tight end and a sidelined running back.
Injuries take all the fun out of sports. Tomorrow I’m going with a bunch of the other Calvary pastors to a Clippers game. With Brand and Livingston out, it’s like watching the old Clippers who have absolutely no shot at even making the playoffs.
However, today was still fun hanging out with friends and watching the Chargers and Packers lose and I’m sure tomorrow will be fun hanging out with friends and watching the Clippers lose. So, here’s to good times with friends in the midst of total failure.
Last night Leslie and I went to Gabbi’s Mexican Kitchen in Old Towne Orange to celebrate the four year anniversary of our first, blind date. We got a gift card from P Diddy at Calvary and decided last night was the perfect time to use it. Gabbi’s has a lot of buzz as a new, cool place to check out. It’s so cool they don’t even have a sign out front. So, we went with high hopes. And then…..
I tried calling ahead for a table the day before, but apparently they don’t take reservations. They do have “priority seating” though. A very loose term. We got there about 6:40 pm, but didn’t get our table until almost 7:20 pm. The chips and salsa were great. However, they couldn’t seem to figure out how to get a diet coke right at the bar since it’s so complicated – so I stuck with water. I soon discovered that almost everyone at Gabbi’s takes full advantage of the bar as the tables around us got louder and louder as more and more alcohol was consumed. By the time we got our food, the table of cackling, shrieking women next to us was out of control. It took away from what was really an aesthetically beautiful room.
So, the food – we shared the empanadas appetizer on the recommendation of our waiter. It was actually pretty good. I got the tacos dorados and Leslie got the enchiladas suizas. I thought the tacos were pretty good and had a unique flavor, but I thought the rice and beans were average if not sub par. Leslie was less than impressed with her meal, but she can be picky sometimes ; )
On first pass, I’d say Gabbi’s is overrated. But, we’re willing to go back again and try something different and maybe try to get there a little earlier to beat the crowd. In the end, I left last night thinking about how important it is to make a good first impression. No, matter how beautiful the space is, or how well planned out the menu is, or how well trained the waiters are, or even how much buzz you’ve generated in the community – each customer’s experience is unique and you only have that one shot to make a good first impression. I think that’s something we need to remember in the context of welcoming people into our churches. What are we possibly doing or maybe not doing that could be creating poor experiences for visitors on Sundays? What can we do to remove those obstacles so that people have the kind of experience we want them to on a more consistent basis?
Filed under: Ordinary Life
Josh Matlock has had a profound impact on my life, whether I like it or not. He’s the young adults pastor at Calvary. Or, at least he used to be. Today the staff at Calvary had a farewell lunch for him as he leaves to be the senior pastor at Bethany Baptist in the IE.
There weren’t any messages in particular that he preached that radically transformed my life or points he challenged in staff meetings that revolutionized what I believed. It was seven numbers in an email that turned my world upside down. I am so thankful that Josh gave me the phone number that set up my first date with my beautiful wife four years ago to the day. We’re going out to dinner tonight to celebrate the anniversary of when we first met for a blind date and I’ll be sure to raise a toast to Matlock.
Is there any one who was key in introducing you to your better half? Have you thanked them lately?
Two stories over the last day or so have made me ponder if I should consider cutting my legs off right at the knee. First, Andrew Bynum, the starting center sensation for the surprisingly good Lakers cranks his knee in a freaky what-happened-again? kind of way. Here’s the full story for hoops fans. Turns out he’s probably out for about 8 weeks.
Then I hear about this guy Oscar Pistorius who has been told he can’t compete in the next Olympics because of an unfair advantage he possesses. According to this story from ESPN, “The 20-year-old Pistorius runs on ‘Cheetah Flex Foot’ protheses, flexible curved blades which allow him to run in a style similar to able-bodied athletes” The IOC believes it makes him run too well and gives him an unfair advantage over his fully-legged competition.
In the meantime, I’m really trying to get in shape this year and the one thing I can do fairly well athletically at this point is walk. However, about half the time this makes my shins burn. Also, I broke my right foot in college and when it’s cold out that foot still hurts a little more than normal. Plus, if I cut off both legs right below the knees – that’s got to be at least 20 lbs a leg, which means instant weight loss of 40 pounds. Then, I can go out and get some of those super fast metal blade “Cheetah Flex Foot” legs. Maybe that’s what Bynum should do. Then again, rehab time for chopped off legs is probably just as long as rehabbing an injured kneecap.
Final note for those of you who are still reading… I’ve lost 9 pounds since Jan 1. So, the painful walking seems to be doing some good. Maybe by the summer I’ll be jogging, with or without the metal blade legs.
First off – GO BOLTS!!! I’m so charged up that San Diego won. That’s two playoff wins in a row. They pulled off a crucial drive to go back up by four points with their starting running back and starting quarterback sidelined with injuries. The picture to the right (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson) is of backup QB Volek handing the ball to backup RB Turner. It was one of the plays in the 78 yard drive that but the Chargers up for good. Absolutely amazing.
They came into today’s game with almost everyone writing them off as a speed bump for the Colts on Indy’s way to take on the Pats next weekend. The game was a lot of fun with a bunch of lead changes, and despite some shady officiating by the zebras, the Chargers pulled off the upset and are having their best year since 95 when they last made it to the Super Bowl.
Now for the lessons learned… (beyond the obvious – you never know when you’re number might get called, so always be prepared)
What’s really fascinating to me is to look at the coaches. Norv Turner was brought in this year to replace Marty Schottenheimer who went 14-2 last year but lost in the first round of the playoffs. It’s tough to do so well, but be up against such high expectations. It must have been even tougher for the Charger’s management to make the tough call to replace Marty with Norv. How do you get rid of someone who has arguably done a pretty good job and replace them with someone mostly unproven in hopes they’ll do an even better job? It was gutsy, but paid off in the end to not settle for pretty good, but instead pursue the extraordinary.
On the other side of the field today was the Colts head coach, Tony Dungy. A guy with an incredible testimony who lives out his faith on and off the field. There have been rumors that he may retire to pursue full time ministry to men in prison. He has said that the last couple years, but many think this time is for real. To lay aside such extraordinary fame and success in something as big as the NFL makes many people scratch their heads in wonder. For those of us who understand what Christ has done for us, it’s a wonder we don’t lay aside more in this life for Him.
One team had the guts to fire a coach for falling just short of perfection, because they realized that pretty good wasn’t good enough. In contrast, the other team’s coach may choose to retire and walk away from not only fame and respect, but also a lot of money. Are you willing to make the tough calls in life?
Oh, one more thing… GO BOLTS!!!
The Times ran an obituary of the famous OC business man Carl Karcher on Friday. “Carl Karcher, who parlayed a single hot dog pushcart into a chain of more than 1,000 fast-food restaurants bearing his name, died Friday. He was 90.” That’s an amazing achievement.
He started the business in 1941 by selling his car and investing the money into a hot dog cart. The business sense and dedication to see a simple idea done well, while introducing industry innovations is inspiring (that was a lot of i’s in a row, huh?) He took a simple, ordinary idea and managed to turn it into something extraordinary.
What really struck me though was how he integrated his faith into his business life – again from the Times, “The boss ate several meals a week at his restaurants, and, wherever he went, he handed out coupons for free hamburgers, wrapped in a Scripture verse. Despite 50- to 80-hour workweeks and a firm commitment to his family, he still found time most evenings to attend a civic, charity or political event.” He didn’t just hand people bible verses, he matched it with an unexpected kindness of giving away a free hamburger. He also found time in his busy week to support things that he believed in and had a passion for. There’s a lesson in there somewhere.
It reminds me a little bit about a book I began reading this week – “I’m Okay and You’re Not” by John Shore. In the book (which I’m only about half-way through), Shore talks about how the Great Commission needs to take more of a back seat, or at least live side-by-side, with the Great Commandment. We can’t just tell everyone the truth about Jesus and that they need to believe. We have to start by loving God and loving other people. That is what Jesus said is the most important thing of all, right?
The truth, when spoken without love, often falls on deaf ears. Simple acts of kindness and conversations that happen through authentic relationships will go much further in demonstrating who Christ is than one-way declarations of truth ever could.
If you’re a believer, have you focused too much on just trying to convince people of the Way or have you shown them the Way through how you live your life and how you love your neighbor? Are there simple things you can do to “wrap” the truth in acts of love and grace?
Last night was amazing. My sister Tiffany got four tickets from her work to go see the Ducks vs. Maple Leafs. So, she invited Leslie (surprisingly a hockey fan) and myself along with her friend Emily. The seats were third row, directly next to the visitors bench. I’ll try and post pictures when I get home tonight. We were so close that I could hear the coach calling out plays and line changes. I could see all the action with the equipment manager standing right next to me. In fact, my arm was resting about 2 inches from the rack of extra sticks they keep just behind the bench. We were so close you could even look over the rail into the little hallway to the locker room. We were maybe 6 feet from one of the fights on the ice. There was glass in front of us, but none to the side of us so it was a little scary every time the action came our way because there was nothing to stop the puck from reaching my head on an errant pass. To top it all off, the Ducks won in a shut out – 5 to 0.
Hockey is a game that’s all about proximity. How close you are to the action directly corresponds to how exciting the game is. I’ve tried watching hockey on TV and it barely manages to keep my attention and keep me out of dreamland. I’ve been to two other hockey games. One Ducks game sitting up in the top section and opening night last year for the Kings sitting about half way down. At least seeing it live had some emotion to it, even from 100 feet away. You could hear the crowd around you and feel the cold of the ice in the air. When a goal is scored, the crowd always erupts and loud horns shake the building, lights flash like crazy and for that moment hockey is as exciting as any sport out there. However, last night was a much more engaging, thrilling, and entertaining version of hockey. It was riveting to watch not only the action of the game but to see the expressions on guys faces and see fists connect to those faces and see the goalies eyes when he’s trying in vain to track the speeding puck careening towards him.
It reminded me of my faith and how church works. It’s not enough to watch it on TV or listen on the radio. It only becomes real and engaging when done in person, where the crowd is into the same thing you are and you can feel the energy and fully participate in what’s going on. However, even sitting as close as I was last night wasn’t the same as actually lacing up the skates and hitting the ice. Yes it was entertaining, but it wasn’t as exciting as actually crashing someone into the boards myself. I hope that in ‘08 I can move beyond my amazing seat that is really close to the action and actually get in the game. I want to do ministry. More than that, I want to help my team – my church – win.
Do you ever feel like you’re just filling a seat on Sundays? Are you even in the building, or are you observing the Christian life from the outside? Or, are you in the game even if it means you might get punched in the face?
Filed under: Ordinary Life
2008 will be my year to get back in shape. I’ve decided to use this blog as a way to share my progress and have some added accountability. I did alright last year and lost about 30 pounds. This year I hope to at least triple that. I’ll add photos and details soon.
I also want to get into the Bible more this year and finally learn how to play a guitar. I also want to make my blog better. I’m usually not big on the hype of new year’s resolutions, but this year feels different. It feels hopeful.
Do you have any big goals for ‘08?
