“Can you get that last pile of branches?”

That question changed my life for the next 72 hours. Kristin asked me to finish our morning long task of weeding, pulling down vines and cutting down limbs from our back yard. The little pile got me when a palmetto branch stuck my into my eyeball. It was pretty painful. After finishing the last bit of work, Kristin took me to the doctor’s office and it was not good. The penetration scratched the eyeball and made it feel like sandpaper every time I opened it. Doc put some antibiotics in the eye and said it heals quickly but I will have to keep the patch on it for a day. It ended up being a two and a half day journey like I haven’t experienced before.

Here are some random thoughts from the journey:

– It is hard to keep one eye open when one is closed.
– I am not sure if I am awake when both eyes are closed.
– I was worn out from trying to keep one eye opened – too much light, to much focusing.
– I had to hold my patched eye closed to see clearly.
– The sound of rain without sight is amazing!
– I can get around my house with my eyes closed really well – the benefit of waking up at 4am almost every day.
– I love listening to my wife talk with my eyes closed.
– I know the dog was giving me funny looks the whole time.
– Weird being driven around without site – scary every time someone brakes.
– What a joy to see my family without blurry vision.

I was blessed to experience temporary blindness. I spent just as much time with my eyes closed as I did with one eye open. I see things in a new way!

Doctor Cromer has been my doctor and great friend for over 16 yrs. We laugh a lot!

I was the kid who wanted to go back to school after a Christmas holiday.

People scoffed then…you are probably scoffing now.

I understand that most people will verbalize how they dread getting back into a new year of work or schooling. I relish it. I thoroughly enjoyed my time off – spent lots of time with family, doing things around the house, reading and playing. But there always is a “draw” back to the part of my life that challenges me. I find that in my work.

Let me ramble off a couple of reason’s why. I like the structure it brings. It causes me to get into a routine time of waking up, spending time with God, exercising and doing things to accomplish goals. I want to do something. I have noticed on days where I just sit around, I get headaches and feel terrible. When I get moving, I don’t feel like a fish. I truly like interacting with the people I work with each day. I am so blessed that I get to work with a staff of people who are hungry to see God’s work done in the Tampa area and abroad. They work tremendously hard each day and it is humbling to work along with them. I love making an impact in my world. I am blessed that my work goes beyond writing a report or creating something for purchase. I get to help people get to know Christ – my work has eternal value. Finally, I love what I do. I have always held the axiom – “The time it is no longer fun to go to work is the time to stop.” Now, there are many days where I don’t “skip off” or come home “whistling Zippity do Da.” Work is still work. However, I love the vision and people of Grace. I still get charged seeing how the God, who created the heavens and the earth, interacts with people. Amazing!

Going back to work today? Go get ’em!

Have you given God "Everything?"

There is a song put out by Hillsong United that is burrowing into my walk with God these days. “With Everything” is an amazing song that starts slow and ends with a crescendo of praise and worship that rockets a worshipper to the presence of God.

It has great lyrics throughout the song but there is one line that is jumping out to me. “So let hope rise, darkness trembles in your Holy Light.” For some reason, this line is what God is ringing out in my heart. Before God came into the picture, there was no hope other than what I could make happen with my own gifts and talents. With God, all things are now possible because He is all knowing, all powerful and all present. 2010 was a tremendously difficult year with challenges and growth. I know I have grown in my relationship with God because where there wasn’t a whole lot of answers – there was hope. When answers did come, I can see His hand moving in hindsight. In other situations, hope continues to well up that God will show up in a big way.

The other part that jumps out is that “darkness trembles” in the present of an amazing God. No matter how bleak a situation is, I can believe that God can do something in it. I find myself saying the famous line from “Dumb and Dumber” – “So you are saying there’s a chance!” God gives me a chance when everything else says, “No way!”

Finally, I am writing this after riding 20 miles, an hour of lifting and an hour of tennis. When I got home, I felt totally spent physically. I gave as much as I could during all three legs of my workout. But did I give everything? If needed, I could do more. I think that is what God is showing me these days – there is more I can give, there is more to do. I actually commented to my tennis partner – “I love the feeling of being drained physically, it tells me that I worked hard.” I want that in my spiritual walk. I want to impact the people and world that God gives me with the very best that I have (and all that I have, as well.)

What is it like to lay it all on the line for God…are you ready to give Him everything?

As a bonus, this is our IO band singing this amazing song.

Silence is Loud.

In a day and age where we are compelled to do more, see more, be better informed, learn faster, achieve higher results, it is hard to believe how loud silence really is. Truth is, silence is uncomfortably loud. There is a greater comfort in being on the go and doing than there is in sitting in silence. As I continue to grow, I am finding the importance of allowing silence to be a bigger part of my life.

Why do I make silence a crucial part of my life?

I don’t know everything and the only way I am going to continue to learn is by listening more and talking less. This can be as simple as enjoying someone share their insights or even just sitting silently and letting God unpack his thoughts to me. Also, I need to enjoy the solitude of taking in my surroundings. Recently, this has become a great sense of enjoyment. For example, my three children are in their late teens and early 20’s. To watch them do life – everything from finding the cheapest gas, the newest song out, or even playing a board game until the early morning hours, they are making their strides into adulthood in a cool way. I also find environments fun to watch – supermarkets, church, airports, gyms, even Home Depot allows people to be amazing. Finally, I need to recalibrate more. There are times where I need to get alone, stare at an ocean, a forest or some open space and get away from my world. When I do, it resets my mind. I enjoy musing over a teaching, my day or even a challenging situation in a silent time. I am continually amazed what a few minutes out of the stream of life will do to foster a new sense of creativity and renewal.

Silence is loud…it sets the environment for my ears, eyes and heart to reopen. In a life that is barreling ahead with many people, noises and responsibilities, silence can be one of the loudest of all.

Today, is the day we celebrate the life of Ezra Matthews. He lived for 800 days. Many of those days were spent in hospitals, with doctors – pushing, probing and testing his little body to see how it could beat cancer. How can a little boy who didn’t have all his teeth, fight for his life? In a world where God can do anything it doesn’t make sense.

Here is where he was the catalyst to change my life. In my journey with he and his family, God has given me a great truth to learn and lean on. On the day that Jesus was crucified on the cross, no one embraced the cross. Nobody ran to the cross and exclaimed, “This is what I have been waiting for! Salvation is coming to man today! I will be able to have a personal relationship with the God of the heavens and earth today! Thanks you for the cross! Thank you for the cross!” Instead, it was chaotic, bloody and painful. People quickly distanced themselves from Jesus and the cross.

Yet, a few weeks later, the disciples were empowered by the Holy Spirit at Pentecost to speak out the message of the cross. People’s lives were changed. The movement continued and town, cities, and nations were changed. The message continued and it began to span decades, generations, cultures, eras and it is still today the most common message of hope and love.

All because of the cross…

Let that sink in for a moment. Without the cross, there is no message of Jesus Christ. The bloody, wooden tool of torture is now hung on homes, churches, cathedrals – even people’s necks and is celebrated as the symbol of relationship with God. God took the most hideous moment in the history of man and made it the most beautiful capture of his love and grace personified.

So what about Ezra? I expect God to do the same. I will not put him in a box of defeat, despair or question about Ezra’s passing. Although I wanted with all my heart to see him healed and healthy, I will set my hope on a God who will take this most difficult situation and make it a life changing experience for everyone.

“I get up at 3:30am.”

It is one of those statements that just sits there when you say it. People laugh and then follow it with “Are you serious?” I laugh and tell “Oh yes, I am.”

It is really quite simple. I leave the house very early to work out and I love the quietness of that time of day. There are two things that happen during that time. I have my devotion time with God. Reading the Bible, praying or worship fills part of this time. It isn’t hard to believe how great my time with God is when there are no phones, tv, music, people moving about and computers going off.

Secondly, I read and prepare my day. I get to be involved in some amazing situations at work and in people’s lives. For me to bring my best, I have to prepare on all levels – attitude, knowledge, physically and even in time management. I was sharing this concept with Sunshine. I told him that each us needs to find the way to bring our gifts to the table each day. If we can do that, we will be successful.

The time isn’t for everyone – I have been doing this since I was in high school. However, find the time to be with God and prepare to bring the “best you” to your day. It is worth the effort.

*Side note: Everything has a cost. I can take a 5 minute nap at almost any time of day and anything after 9pm is a challenge. The Lord has blessed me with an understanding wife, family and church. (And TiVo.)