Living Unfiltered for God

  From the time I was a young boy (when I first started playing competitive sports) I remember hearing the words, “You have to be in the right position!” Playing baseball, as a Shortstop, it was vital that I placed myself in the most advantageous position between second and third base. (Fortunately, this was before “the shift” became a thing!) It varied from batter to batter, how many outs there were, if there were runners on base, and so forth. To be the best shortstop that I could be, I had to pay attention to my physical location.             This continues today, as I’ve recently started playing tennis competitively with my daughter. If you watch Mixed-Doubles on TV, it may seem innocuous enough, but let me tell you – there is A LOT going on and to keep track of! Not the least of which is placing yourself in the proper position on the court. Michelle (possibly the world’s most patient daughter) is forever telling me to, “...

(This post was partly written several weeks ago. Since then, it has been sitting in it's draft form... waiting for a piece that I was missing. Waiting for something - I didn't know what. This morning in church, I discovered the "what". I am grateful that I have a church, a pastor, and this morning in particular, a pastor's wife, that are obedient to the Spirit's leading and promptings. Thank you Tiffany.) Here we are, still at the beginning of a new year. A new year that no doubt started with lots of promise. If you're like me, you tend to look at the start of a new year with a blank slate... You look at all the wonderful things that God might have in store for you in the next 12 months! But maybe, there have already been trials. Maybe, that beautifully bright future has already begun to be somewhat tainted by events that you would rather have avoided. This isn't meant to be one of those dark and depressing posts about how rough life can be... qui...

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Here we are! The start of a new year! Hopefully you've taken some time to reflect on the last 12 months... What you need to learn from and remember and what you might need to just leave in the past. But now is the time to fix our minds and focus on the future! What do you think God might have in store for you in 2015?  My wife and I enjoy speculating about what the future may bring - we call it "scenario building". Over the years it has been cause for many laughs because we never seem to get things just right. God always finds ways to show up and move in our lives in ways that we never expected. For example, one year ago today, I in no way thought that I would now have this magnet on my car... While I had started running the year before, we never would have thought I would complete a half-marathon in 2014! It took God moving - through one of our daughters and through a good friend - to get me to even consider, let alone train for and compet...