Lists 2012

In 2008 I started what is a fun, annual post for me.

Here are my top five lists from 2012.

Top Five Movies I Saw:

1. Argo (Human courage and creativity at its best)

2. Life of Pi (Which story do you prefer?)

3. Lost (the entire TV series on Netflix…amazing character development)

4. Battlestar Galactica (the entire TV series on Netflix….William Adama is a hero!)

5. The Town (a few years old, but hadn’t seen it…very good)

Top Five Websites I Visited:
1. AJC.com / CNN.com / USATODAY.com
2. Pandora.com
3. CBSsports.com
4. ESPN.com

5. Ted.com

Top Seven Books I Read:

1. All Is Grace by Brennan Manning

2. The Triumph of Christianity by Rodney Stark

3. Choose Love Not Power by Tony Campolo

4. The (Honest) Truth about Dishonesty by Dan Ariely

5. Humilitas by John Dickson

6. The Science of Fear by Daniel Gardner

7. The Last Place on Earth by Roland Huntford

Top Six Restaurants I Ate At:
(in order of frequency)

1. Starbucks (four times/week on average)
2. Subway

3. Sid’s Pizza (for pick-up, not dine-in)

4. Taco Mac (still for the football and friendships, not the food)

5. McAlister’s Deli
6. Cheesecake Factory

Top Five Things I'm Really Glad I Spent My Time Doing:

1. Growing my relationship with my family.

2. Being with my church family on Sunday mornings.
3. Tutoring kids at Esther Jackson Elementary School, helping to fund the digging of freshwater wells in Africa, and officiating at weddings at Kimball Hall.
4. Spending time with new friends.

5. Reading.

Fourteen Great Memories

1. Going to movies and going on walks with my son.

2. Tucking my daughter in at night and driving her to school every morning, Mon-Fri, and helping her with her homework, and going into the church early with her each Sunday morning, and letting her vote with me in the Presidential election, and seeing her laugh and roller skate and play games.

3. Our annual summer vacation in Hilton Head.  Great again for the 30-something-eth year.

4. Old friendships going deeper – SteveW, George/Dianne, ChrisG, CharlieT, CarlosB, Susie/Eddie, EricI, AnnM, Kristal/Warren, Steve/Shelley, TimS, EricF, PatrickS.

5. New friendships – JC, Chuck/Angela, JeffK, JustinB, LaurenC, BenT, JoelF. 

6. Talking on the phone with my parents.

7. Sunday nights at Taco Mac with friends.

8. My high school friends at church – Jack, Naum, Thomas, Jake, Alex, John, Hanna, Evan, Brandon, Xander, Luke.

9. Weddings at Kimball Hall.   

10. Christmas brunch with my church family at Altobelli’s on the 9^th followed by the best Christmas church service in the history of Christmas church services on the 16^th. Thanks Phil, it was your idea!

11. The Cowboys-Falcons game at the Georgia Dome.
12. My dad, my nephew Isaac, and I saw it live and in person at Turner Field....Chipper's walk off homer on September 2 against the Phillies.

13. Christmas Morning with my family.  A horse and a car will make this an unforgettable Christmas.

 

Taking Tennis Lessons from John McEnroe

If I could take tennis lessons from Rafa Nadal, John McEnroe or Serena Williams I would do it. And if either told me to stand "here," to hit my backhand like "that" or toss the ball "in this way," I would devote myself to doing what they said. What an opportunity!

If I could have lunch with and get business tips from Jim Collins or Herb Kelleher I would not only pay for their lunch. I would also take notes and do my best to implement what they told me. What an opportunity!

If Dave Ramsey or Clark Howard would sit down with me, examine my finances and set me on an optimal financial course, I would do my best to follow the exact plan they outlined.

If I wanted to strengthen my physical body - well, I don't really need improvement here. (And I lie sometimes, too.)

Over the past several weeks I've been re-reading Jesus' "Sermon on the Mountain" found in Matthew 5, 6 and 7. And he says things like "settle matters quickly," "don't take revenge," "love your enemies," "give to the needy," "pray," "fast," "prioritize God with the way you spend your money," "don't judge," and more.

And it leads me to this question for you and for me: If you could take LIFE lessons from the master of life and he said "settle matters quickly like this" or "forgive like that" or "pray here," would you do it? Would you view it as an opportunity of a lifetime? 

Does Jesus know as much about how to live life well as McEnroe does about tennis, Collins about business, and Ramsey about money?  If so, then, what would be appropriate response from you and from me?

105

Research tells us that we now spend almost half our waking hours online—laptops, desktops, TV, I-phones, I-pads, I-pods, and similar technology.  The average adult is awake for 15 hours and 45 minutes every day and over 7 hours of that time is spent using the proliferation of technology.

The average Xbox user is online for 84 hours a month!

Last Sunday, I taught about how all this technology (which is a very good thing used wisely) demands something from our eyes, namely our fixed attention on a screen.

And often, because of this, we miss out on seeing, hearing, tasting, touching and connecting with the things of God.

The author of Hebrews (12:2) writes, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.” 

Fixing our eyes on things of God is something that is harder to do while fixing our eyes on a screen.

And so each day this week I challenged, and took the challenge of, consciously taking time to see Jesus by making the following three lists: 1) Five blessings; 2) Five things of beauty; 3) Five people who give us a chance to experience God.

If you take this challenge, at the end of day seven, you’ll have 105 reminders of how God is present, at work and lovingly interested in our well-being.

Here are a few items from my list so far.  

BLESSINGS: Water, fingers, knees, hugs, soap, scrambled eggs, fourteen cents I found in a nearby parking lot, toothpaste, table games, flushing toilets, great jokes, shade.

BEAUTY: My daughter’s eyes, a baseball field just before first pitch, Monet’s “Water Lilies”, the color blue, the music of Rachmaninoff, the lyrics to Bobby McFerrin’s “Don’t Worry, Be Happy,” a perfect golf shot, a new idea, a tree gently swaying in the wind, the beach.

PEOPLE: Emily, manager of nearby Starbucks; Carlos, backgammon genius; Rafa Nadal, tennis great; Craig Kimbrall, Braves closer; JC, a friend of a friend who is a great conversationalist; Shelley, a woman who lives out her faith with both seriousness and joy; Akshay, 8-year old piano student who gets so excited he drools;  Tim Hooper, Terminix account manager; My family; George, a man of God and a friend in the truest sense of the word.

Eating With Firemen

Real firemen. But not Firehouse #4. I didn't bring my camera.

 

I just got back from serving lunch to the men and women of the Roswell Fire department.

Well, actually, I just got back from eating lunch with them.  My friend, Rick, and his team, did the work of preparing, delivering and serving the meal.  Chicken, stuffing, mixed vegetables, mashed potatoes with gravy, macaroni and cheese, dinner rolls and tossed salad.  For dessert, apple pie and raspberry Danishes.  And to drink, an assortment of iced teas and fresh lemonade.

I’m full. We all are.

Four times each year, our church serves lunch at Roswell Firehouse #4.  It is one way we can say “thank you,” for the safety and security they provide our community every day of every week of every month of every year.  And it is always fun to hang out for an hour with firemen who are filled with stories of rescue and sacrifice, and always ready to give our children a tour of the fire trucks.  Today we even got to hear the sirens!

“Thank you” again men and women of Roswell Firehouse #4 for a great lunch and for your faithful service to our community.  

I Said "Good-bye"

I said "goodbye" to Francisco, Brandon, and Diego Tuesday. They are the three boys I had the privilege of tutoring this year at Esther Jackson Elementary, our church's partner school. And I was as proud as ever of them as we reviewed all they had learned this year and talked about what their plans were for this summer.

I've done a lot of things over the last nine months. But devoting an hour each Tuesday to helping these boys read and write will stand among the best things I've done.
 
I figure I made the short trip to Esther Jackson about twenty-five times. On twenty-five days I paused to put my agenda on the back-burner in order to put the future of our humanity on the front burner. For twenty-five of my last 6,000 hours, I invested in the academic and social growth of a struggling student who will never "pay me back." (Doesn't seem like a lot of time does it?....Makes me wonder why so few in our country carve out time for something as invaluable as this.)
 
Why do I, why does my church, invest in Esther Jackson in this way? It's not for the money. We don't get paid. It's not for the fame. There is none. It's not to convince others of our worldview or religious convictions. It's not so that one day we'll reap some tangible reward.
 
It's simply to be the hands and feet of Jesus in our world. It's because there is no greater investment than the investment of love. It's because investing in the growth of another is investing in what lies at the heart of Jesus himself. 
 
I am thankful for the opportunity I had to tutor this school year.  I'm thankful for many reasons, but partly because as I was saying "goodbye" to Francisco, Brandon and Diego, I realized again how right Jesus is when he says, "It's more blessed to give than receive (Acts 20)" and "the kingdom of God belongs to such as these (Matthew 19)."
 
Those two sentences of Jesus summarize my tutoring experience this year.  Each Tuesday as I met with Francisco, Diego and Brandon over some spelling words, some reading books and some lively conversation, I was mega-blessed, and I sensed I was connecting with the heart of what matters to God.

Have you ever thought about investing your time and heart into something like this?