two cousins, two best friends

this morning we loaded up the cooler and headed to muskogee honor heights park.  for the past two years i have done a flower power bike ride there and always wanted to bring my fam down there for a little getaway.  it’s georgeous!  on the way there we stopped by nana’s house and grabbed my little nephew ashton.  we loaded up on fried chicken, cokes, m&m’s, skittles, and ice cream!  we hit a splashpad and took a little ride in the biggest swan i’ve ever seen!

camden and ashton are two months apart.  at three and a half years old they quickly admit they are not only cousins, but best friends.  camden picked up a little puppy at one point, lifted it up, and stuffed its face in a sprinkler!  it was too funny.   when we left ashton told me, “uncle ricky thank you for taking me today”.  pretty good manners for a 3 1/2 year old – we loved having him as part of our family outing today.

10 things that will make me smile

Today was a day I could live in slow motion all over again!  Here’s the 10 things that I got to be apart of today that bring a smile to my face as i end this day:

 

1. Meet five new people in my community and just pick their brain about different issues
2. Have lunch with two close friends at el maguey
3. talk to my sister on the phone and catch up
4. talk to my parents on the phone and get encouraged and advice
5. hang out and pray for the elderly & play catch with teenagers from the youth shelter
6. have a house full of friends and family, while cale eats a squirrel b-day cupcake
7. gain insight, wisdom, and advice from my FNL & grandma-in-law
8. reading and journaling in acts 5
9. play cornhole with my family
10. work as a team with amy to pull off an incredible 1st b-day party for cale

click here to watch part of cale’s b-day party

 

“da da”

the best part of today and what made everything else seem so small was hearing my soon to be one year old say, “da da” to me for the first time.  it’s amazing how such a long day, with some aggrevations, can all go away in a few seconds time.

I was able to talk to an incredible guy from Huntsville Texas, that is leading an amazing chi alpha ministry down there.  he gave me some encouraging words as we look to the fall semester at rsu. 

 i also had a phone conversation that reinforced my dream.  it made me realize how big my vision is for claremore and how streamlined my focus is.  man can’t stop what god places in the heart.  for most of my life i have allowed men to determine my destiny – well, no longer.  it is in the hands of an almighty god!  i love several quotes i recently heard:

 

“I believe you have to be willing to be misunderstood if you’re going to innovate. That’s actually a serious point. If you’re going to do something that’s never been done before—which is basically what innovation is—people are going to misunderstand it just because it’s new.” Jeff Bezos

 

“Dont ask yourself what the world needs.  Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive“

 

 

 

swims, bike rides, & lots of smoke

this afternoon i got to knock out a quick 40 laps at the rec center with my new friend wes.  he’s a senior at rsu and hadn’t been in the pool in months, but makes me look like a newbie!  he cusses like a sailor and i love it.  no not the cussing, but it reminds me that i’m hanging with the right kinds of people.  i got to hook up on the weekly bike ride out of the bikeabout store later in the afternoon.  it is truly a highlight in my week to be able to hook up with some of my good friends rachel and matt.  i got to meet keith and shannon as well.  i found out shannon runs a 19min 5K – that’s nuts!!!

after camden and i played fetch with benji, our neighbor’s dog, we read little mermaid.  it went from cinderella to now this.  he even commented tonight that aerial is cute and pretty.  he’s 3 1/2 for cryin out loud!  what do i do with that?  all i can say is i’m glad that he likes girls – that’s my only positive.

i just got in from my second hang-out at dusty’s pub here in town.  i had the opportunity to get beat by cindy the owner in a game of pool.  she’s amazed that i don’t have any bad habits such as cussing, smoking, or drinking.  i met a new friend named stormy who talked my ear off – it was great!  i also got to chat with georgy, who just so happened to attend our student ministry when i was a youth pastor seven years ago – that was a little weird.  once again i smell like i crawled up in a ball and hung out in my woodstove all day!  my contacts hurt like crazy.  i’m tired.  i just can’t stop thinking that if jesus was in claremore tonight – he would’ve been hanging out with me at dusty’s.  i’m absolutely loving being incarnational and missional with the love of christ! 

a wakeboard & a root beer float

it has been two years since my family had a quality lake day.  with cale being born right as summer started last year it just didn’t happen.  ahhhh it was nice to come out of wakeboard retirement.  i got up my first try and managed to stay up for awhile until i hit a wave and did a cartwheel!  it was fun to get camden out on the tube before he decided it was way to scary.  it was a memorable memorial day with the in-laws. 

thet only downer of the day was that it got cut short with a downpour.  we got back to the house and grilled some burgers.  amy and i ran out to grab some braum’s ice cream to make some root beer floats.  as camden was putting his down – little bro was not about to be left hangin! 

i have to give a shout out to a close friend over in Iraq right now – thinking of you Cody on this special day man as you are serving for all of us.

passionate companions

05.26.08 7:33am

S – Acts 4

“what business do you have doing this?” :7

“peter, full of the holy spirit let loose” :8

“I’ll be completely honest with you – we have nothing to hide.  By the name of jesus christ.  Salvation comes no other way, no other name has been or will be given to us by which we can be saved, only this one.” :11-13

“they couldn’t take their offs off them – peter and john standing there so confident, so sure of themselves!  These men were laymen with no training in scripture or formal education.  They recognized them as companions of jesus” :13-14

“what can we do with these men?  It’s known al over town.  Lets silence them with threats so they won’t dare to use jesus’s name ever again with anyone.” :15

“whether its right in god’s eyes to listen to you rather than to god, you decide.  As for us, there’s no question – we can’t keep quiet about what we’ve seen and heard.” :18-20

 

O

·          Peter and john were so full of the holy spirit that they could careless what anyone else thought.  The religious leaders of their day were so intimidated by their raw passion and fearless approach to not be ashamed of the gospel.  They had no clue as to how to handle them, because they weren’t doing anything wrong.  They were going against the grain and against status quo.  They were being initiators of change for the better.  This has to be one of favorite passages of scripture – I love that they were so pure and had nothing to hide.  They gave all glory to the name of Christ! 

·          The best part perhaps is they were just a couple of normal blue-collar guys – no education or training – just strictly transformed by the love of God.  They created such a buzz around their community that everyone knew about the life change that was occuring – it was contagious.  They weren’t going to allow criticism or what anyone thought, even to the point of death, to prevent them from sharing christ with anyone around them!

 

A

·          I want this in me!  I want that same holy spirit’s boldness to charge me up so I’ll be relentless in a passionate pursuit to make jesus name famous in claremore oklahoma.  I don’t care what anyone thinks.  Jesus was a rebel just like these guys.  He didn’t care what the pharisees thought – he didn’t step down to anyone.  When people see me – my prayer is that they will say – he is a companion of christ.  He is a present day disciple and follower of christ!  May a buzz be stirred all over this place and may the passion be contagious.

 

P

God I lift your name up.  You said if we lift you up you would draw all men unto you.  May you receive all glory and honor.  Sweep across this place and we invite a 2^nd reformation and a spiritual awakening to happen.  Not by weird man-made services or crazy abuses of the gifts, but by serving our community the authentic love of christ!

in the name of jesus

for the past year i have run a certain 10 mile loop around claremore.  mile 9 goes down a huge hill on a county road and ends near this long gated fence where two dogs always are.  one of the dogs is a viscious bulldog that has intimidated me from the first time i saw him.  here’s the scoop – everytime i have run by they run along side the chained link fence where the gate to the driveway is always open.  the weird part is this – these dogs have always skipped the opening and finished running along the fence on the other side of this opening. 

this picture has always been a metaphor to me of god’s protection against any enemies or satanic attack.  today as i was running i looked deep into the eyes of this bulldog with no fear – knowing he would skip the opening and god would protect me from some viscious attack of this bulldog!  to my suprise and absolute fear-stricken eyes (as i literally almost soiled in my shorts) this bulldog bursted at of the gate and came at me like it had rabies.  i’m not exaggerating!  i would like to say i left this dog in the dust with my speed – but after 8 miles my legs hurt and i run like i still weigh 225lbs. 

this bulldog came right at my ankles growling like he was about to take a chunk out of my leg.  instantly a flashback of my past occurred.  my mom and i while in the 5th grade, were walking in a golf course.  a viscious dog came at us and i remember my sweet precious red-headed mom speak out with authority that i had never seen.  the irish blood came out as she was protecting her little lamb (me).  she screamed out, “in the name of jesus – get back dog”!  i’ve never forgotten it.  so as this dog was literally on my heels i screamed out the statement my mom had planted in me, “in the name of jesus – in the name of jesus – dog back off right now!”. 

this dog whimpered away like he was nothin.  i learned that as much as god is protecting me – sometimes he throws test out there to truly see if we believe he will protect us.  it reminded me of the supreme power of jesus name.  it reminded me that there are times in life where i have have absolutely no control in a situation and the only thing to do is surrender my all to christ. 

have you ever had an experience like this?  perhaps during moments of attack or high-pressured situations that are beyond your control – try speaking out the name of jesus and see what might happen!  the bible says, “he’ll never leave us nor forsake us”.

the platinum center memories

this past week i finished my last pt session at the platinum center in tulsa.  i will deeply miss the relationships and the memories in the two years i was there.  being an inspector doesn’t give me a lot of people time, so this position truly opened the door.  it gave me an opportunity to help and care for people.  in alot of ways it gave me a love and trust for people that had been previously lost.  it gave me an opportunity to work in an environment where most people don’t go to church and many are far from god.  i fell in love with these people and it gave me compassion for the unchurched.

i’m thankful to don for giving me the shot with no experience.  i’ll miss my fellow trainers.  more than anyone i’ll miss bevster, vlad, and a great friend in scott.  although i will see these people from time to time i’ll miss the regular interaction. 

my top memories are:

1. throwing a ball at my client jeff while he was doing situps and he wasn’t looking (ouch!!)
2. talking to tiger woods while he was working out during his stay in tulsa
3. sharing the love of christ with one of my clients that has become a close friend
4. being a celebrity on the news (yeah right!) by the tulsa news (click here to watch)

although i’ll miss my time in tulsa – i’m trading it to begin training at the rec center in claremore where my heart now lies.

my hometown

growing up i lived all over the place being a preacher’s kid.  i was born in port neches texas where i spent the first five years of my life.  then we spent four years in new hampshire, followed by six years in san antonio, followed by two years in colorado, and one year in oklahoma, after i graduated from high school i spent three years in dallas area, short stint in arkansas, and then we lived in fort worth for nearly three years.  since that time we moved back to claremore oklahoma where we’ve lived for the past three years. 

 

last year i came to a conclusion – i didn’t feel like i had a hometown.  it was somewhat frustrating for me.  one day while waiting for a doctor’s appointment i was reading an article.  this phrase leaped out at me, “your home is where your roots are the deepest”.  immediately i thought of all the major transitions i’ve had, a life-threatening surgery, a baby born, first called out of college, and got married in one place – claremore.  what i always have been searching for became a reality – claremore oklahoma had become my hometown.  i plan on raising my boys here and pastoring a church for the next 30 years or so.

 

here’s ten things i recently heard someone say they have learned in oklahoma:

 

1. A possum is a flat animal that sleeps in the middle of the road.
2. People actually grow and eat okra.
3. ‘fixinto’ is one word.
4. Iced tea is appropriate for all meals and you start drinking it when you’re two. We  

   do like a little tea with our sugar.
5. You don’t have to wear a watch, because it doesn’t matter what time it is, you

   work until you’re done or it’s too dark to see.
6. You switch from heat to A/C in the same day.
7. You only own five spices: salt, pepper, Head Country (barbeque sauce), Tabasco  

    and Ketchup.
8. You know all four seasons: Almost summer, summer, still summer, and

    Christmas.
9. Going to Wal-Mart is a favorite past time know as ‘goin’ Wal-Martin’ or ‘off to

    Wally World’
10. You describe the first cool snap (below 50 degrees) as good chili weather.

 

here’s my top will roger quotes:

 

“no man is great if he thinks he is” will rogers

“a man learns by two things.  one is reading.  The other is associating with smarter people” will rogers

“I never met a man I didn’t like” will rogers

“everybody is ignorant.  Only on different subjects” will rogers

“all we have is “what’s the matter with the country?  What’s the matter with the world?” there aint but one thing wrong with every one of us in the world, and that’s selfishness” will rogers

reputation not records

This afternoon I got to talk to one of the three friends that were like my inner circle in college.  I love marc to death and would do anything for him.  We got talking about our childhood heroes.  He live in houston and was telling me about all the mixed feelings people are having with roger clemens.  He was my childhood sports hero growing up.  I got nicknamed “rocket ricky” in little league after him.  All through school I wore the #21.  I even have a vintage sox jersey with his name on the back.  Over the past year he’s come forward to admitting to all sorts of junk.  It has truly disappointed me.  It’s sad that so many will not remember his records, but his reputation.  His legacy to his fans and his family are perhaps dampered.  It’s so sad.

 

It made me think of my boys.  Besides me relationship with christ and my marriage to amy, the most important thing to me is what my boys will think of me when I’m older.  I want to live a life before them that is open book.  I will never be perfect, but I want to live a life of integrity before them.  Tonight as I wrestled with them on the floor amy took a picture of the three amigos doing the triple decker as I call it!  I won’t be able to take any material posessions to heaven one day, but what I will be able to take is my precious little boys that I love with all my heart!

 

this pic reminded me of my own dad that would wrestle with us kids when we were little.  thanks dad for being every bit of what i wrote above that i want to be for my boys!