"Men On Mondays"

Well...Cindy had to re-train me on how to get on the web site and get started.  I guess that means that it has been too long since I blogged.  I don't know if anyone missed me, but Cindy insisted that I keep going, so if it makes her happy...then guess what?? 


My thoughts are called "Men on Mondays".  Every Monday, I will have a story or two that may or may not keep you looking at our blog every Monday.  I'm sure that there will be many things to discuss, feel free to share your stories. 


Here's to the first installment of "Men On Mondays"!  I say cheers as I sip on my Diet Coke instead of Koffee.


Ode to Walking...


There in the past, when I used to walk fast
While I was still young in my step
Seeing nothing at all, my step would not fall
I raced to the end of my quest.


Walking am I, with eyes to the sky
My lungs need many a breath
Walking a trail, just dragging my tail
I'm really just passing a test.


The difference I see, is I'll never be
A lad with the spring in my step.
The man that I am, with the great "I am"
Is seeing what He wants me to see.



Cindy and I went on a walk yesterday...we don't do that enough!  How many of us live in beautiful places, but get caught up life only to never enjoy the creation that is God.  For those of you that don't live in the most beautiful places...places that are described as "smelling like money", just play along.  If you have a favorite vacation spot, take the time to "vacation" with your family!


I can tell that I'm getting old, because as we started the hike, my body was reminding me..."just pace yourself".  Just pace myself??  Up a slight incline??  I needed to pace myself...just 5 minutes into the walk, I was huffing and puffing and was looking for a spot to rest.  Just in the nick of time, we came upon a river and it was the perfect spot for me to ask Cindy "do you need to rest?"  I needed to rest!  I needed to rest??  It's OK to rest. 


I talked to my dad on the telephone tonight, he is 78 years old and he was trying to install a garbage disposal in his kitchen.  He told me that the only problem he would have in the installation process was holding the disposal up long enough to connect it to the sink.  My dad could fix anything...I could sprint up a mountain trail...my dad is still smart...I 'm just learning to listen.  I'm just learning to rest.

To the "Men On Mondays" I always laugh at how things were easier when I was young.  I could eat a whole pizza, now a container of Tums...I could do a lot of sit-ups, now when I sit, I can't get up...I used to be able to fit on the couch for a nap...now the nap is 3 hours...don't even talk about how my high school letter jacket fits!  Remember the fun...but remember to listen, rest and enjoy your walks.

Enjoying Mondays!!

Steve

Real Talk...Real Times

I was blessed to have a great "heart to heart", father/daughter talk with my girls today.  We talked about how the environment you are in usually has a big influence on who you become.

It is true with children, teens and adults.  From the music we listen to, to the clothes we wear, to the people we hang out with, to the car we drive and the money we spend, the environment we choose to participate in, "molds" us.

You notice I said "molds" us.  It doesn't happen overnight, it takes time, in many cases, years.  We usually don't even know it is happening!

Now this "molding" can be positive or negative.  It depends on our environment, who and what we surround ourselves with.  If we surround ourselves with Godly people who love to serve, give, praise and study the word of God then the molding that takes place resembles a "heavenly perspective".

If we choose an environment of the "worldly perspective" then we begin to love power, money, status, self and we look out for ourselves above all else.  Before we know it our words have a "Godly Tone", but our actions don't reflect our words and our witness is "shot".  By the way, that is just how the evil one likes it to be.

For many years, our family has lived a simple life.  We don't want for anything, but we also don't have "extra".  The towns we have lived in and the people we have chosen to invest with and in have been relatively modest.  We have lived in some larger towns, Dallas TX, Surprise, AZ, Santa Maria, CA, but we have made a choice to live simply.

As the girls and I talked, mainly about styles of dress, makeup (or too much makeup), how a boy mind thinks, I am blessed and honored to be their dad.  My girls are growing up, but they have a solid understanding of how God expects them to live.

If they live how God expects them to live...then why should I worry?

Because that's what Dad's do......

Enjoying My Kup...

Steve

Hangin' with my girls...

I am blessed!

I get to spend the next week or so with my girls by myself while mom is in California.  So I am worker, cook, laundry guy, principal...your regular "Mr. Mom".

What could be better than a week of Wii, playing catch, watching live bull riding and Karate Kid I, II & III.  It's during times like these that I realize just how quickly my girls are growing up.  Soon, they will be on their own, making their own decisions...living their own lives.  Some of you have small children.  You can't wait for the day when you can own "grown up" things again (like breakables in the house or decent furniture). 

My advice to you?  ENJOY your time!  Don't let the hustle and bustle of life take time away from your family.  We work to get ahead, save a little money, a little vacation time and before you know it...

Quality of life definitely wins over quantity of life.  It's not how much you can fit into one day...but the quality of the life during that day.  No one (except God) knows more about your kids than you. They have hopes and dreams and you know exactly what they are.

It may sound like I know what I'm talking about...it is easy to write down my thoughts.  It is quite another thing to put it into practice.

I want to encourage you to take some extra time this week to "love on" your kids, tell your spouse how much they mean to you...

But most of all...tell God how much He means to you...and show it with your obedience and praise.  If you make God the most important priority in your life, then He will show you how to prioritize everything else.

By the way...one thing I am finding out this week...Atari is not Wii!

Enjoying My Kup...

Steve

Is it what I think it is.......

Is it what I think it is?  What a confusing group of words!  This group of words can be related to many different circumstances.  But I have a specific direction that this is going.

In this case, the "it" is God's voice or direction.  The key word in this statement is "I".  Anytime we insert our thoughts into determining God's voice or direction we set ourselves up for misinterpretation, failure or blaming others.

I have one thing to say..."It" is what "It" is...He never changes.  Unfortunately, we tend to blame circumstances or others for not "hearing" God correctly.  The last time I checked, this world and the people in it are sinners, lacking perfection.  If we allow the lack of perfection in others to shade our recognition of God's direction in our lives, then we will forever be disappointed.

Too many times, when things don't go our way with finances, relationships, health or spiritual growth, we think that maybe we didn't hear God correctly.  Do we measure hearing God correctly with life progressing as we think it should...with no hiccups.

In James 1:2-4 "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.  Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."

What is the "testing of your faith"?  I believe that testing is offensive relationships, difficult finances, fleeting health or stunted spiritual growth.

To hear God, we must recognize God!  The apostle John wrote in John 10:14 & 15, "I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me--just as the Father knows me and I know the Father--and I lay down my life for the sheep."

There are 2 comparisons, the Shepherd and his Sheep and the Father and the Son.  The Shepherd never leaves his Sheep and the Father and Son have always been together.  For us to hear and recognize God's voice, we must never separate ourselves from Him.  We must bury ourselves in His Word, sing praises to Him, fight for Him and obey Him when He calls us.

It is what I think it is...its God's voice calling you and I to follow Him wherever there is a need not thinking about "what's in it for me".

Enjoying My Kup...

Steve

Why Don't Men Listen??

Cindy and I are sitting here together after dinner, both on our computers.  For the upteenth time I ask her "what is our website" and "what is our password".  Finally, she says "why don't you write it down"! 

Why?  Because that would be like reading a step by step manual or stopping to ask for directions...it's just not done...I've got this!  What is it about men that we won't ask for help?

Is it pride?  How about masculinity?  Maybe we might get caught by our buds asking for help.  It is the ultimate "keeping up with the Jones'".  From the beginning it seems, men have been taught to lead and not show weakness.  To some men, not having all the information shows weakness.  I know that when I'm around a group of men, if I show a lack of knowledge about something there is sometimes more than a gentle ribbing.

But Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12:10:  "That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.  For when I am weak, then I am strong."

I challenge you to read what Paul wrote before and after that part of scripture in 2 Corinthians to see Paul's vision.  Maybe you or the men in your life can learn from Paul.  It is not from our strengths that God works through us, but through our weaknesses, because then He gets all the Glory.

By the way, I did write down our website information...on a post-it
note...pink no less.

Enjoying My Kup,

Steve

Runnin' Out Of Time

I was told this week that "as soon as we are born, we are dying".  Well, thank you Mr. Optimistic!  But then I thought, I'm running out of time.  Time to share the most important things with the ones I love.  And then I thought, what about those I don't love or don't even know?  They are as important to God as the ones I love and if they are important to God, shouldn't they be important to me?

Let me back up a moment and tell you about my last week with my collegues in California.  When you get to be my age (nope, not saying), your mind still thinks like a 25 year old (OK, so you know that I'm older than 25), but your body says "ARE YOU CRAZY???".  Then just for good measure, when you wake up the next day, you remember THOSE muscles that you forgot you had.  We had 3 activities we participated in for leasure time.  I was real excited about the activities when I read them on the schedule:  pool (not swimming), skeet shooting and baseball batting cages.  The 25 year old sprang to his feet and began to do my best "Rocky Balboa" impersonation...you know, running up the 5 million steps to the tune of "gonna fly now" then dancing at the top like I had just won a gold medal in the olympics.

Well, when the time came to shoot pool, I'll call it billards so there is no confusion, my partner and I lost 2 games and were out.  In skeet shooting, I hit 3 out of 25 targets and in the batting cages I thought I was good with the fast pitch baseball until someone who had never done it before didn't miss a single ball.  Then
came the "days after".  My back hurt, my shoulder was aching and today my knee is reminding me that I'm not 25 anymore.

However, maybe the most important thing I remembered was that even though I didn't win a single event against my collegues, I had something much more important to share with them.  I was a "light in their darkness".  You see, they might be great at billards, skeet shooting or hitting a baseball, but what I could share with them is "eternal".  Trying to re-live the glory days when I could shoot a shotgun with great skill and could even smack a baseball over the fence, were fun, but I was reminded that those days come and go, but our relationship with God will always be with us.

Even if we begin to die as soon as we are born, it's just the opposite with our re-birth in Christ.  The longer we live, the more we should desire to grow in Him.  We may be the "only" light some people will see, so our light must always shine bright. 

Yes, we may be running out of time, but our light can become brighter as we draw closer to God and share with others the hope that is within us, Jesus Christ.

Enjoying my Kup,

Steve

How Did We Survive?

Childhood...how did we survive it?  As I watch my girls grow up, I'm amazed that someday they will be parents and I will be grandpa.  I'm also amazed that I'm a parent, that God trusted me to make the rules.

When I go to the store, I buy sugar-coated, dentist loving goodies like Hot Tamales & Rainblo bubble gum. I watch old home movies with me chasing my older sisters with a badminton racquet.  Am I the only one around with a shoe box of black and white 8mm movies complete with projector and screen? Will I embarass my girls with singing in the mall and wearing old clothes while trying to be hip.  Would they claim me if they saw my powder blue prom tux and permed hairdo from the 70's?

If only they knew...my tux and hairdo will be their skinny jeans and long straight hair.  What will they do to try to show their kids that they are cool.  Will their "LOL" and "BFF" be our "groovy" and "sweet"? The constant theme will be their Godly character and the desire to serve others. Our family ties will be our love for each other and our love for our Creator. 

We survived by being ourselves...not by what others wanted us to be and by taking care of each other.

Enjoying My Kup...
Steve

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