"Hello - My Name is Regret"

I regret not updating this site for 1 full year.  A whole year, gone.  Well there's no time like the present, to start new and fresh.  I've been thinking about a lot of things over the past year - but that's about it.  Mostly boring stuff like this:

 

I want to own and operate a Starbucks.  Wouldn't that be cool?  Over the past year I haven't been able to get to Starbucks every morning like I use to - but I do make it most Friday mornings when I'm in town, and then again on Sunday mornings before church (ok, and a few times in-between).  I do work there, real work, and I read the paper, and I connect with a few familiar faces.  And, I listen to conversations (shhhhhhhh!) the tables are real close together.  It's amazing what people feel free to talk about - out load - business discussions and very personal stuff - as if no one else is listening.   Well, I just mind my own business :).
    
I could totally operate a Starbucks.  I know the manager at my Starbucks and he's not a rocket scientist.  I'm not a rocket scientist - so I figure I could do it too - right?  He acts like he loves what he is doing - there's never a dull moment, and he works around coffee all day - what could be better?
        

Or, I could buy one of these shaved ice trucks and sell snow cones.  This couple was at our "Fall Festival" (Halloween) the other night with their truck.  They even have a web-site, they asked me to 'like' them on it.  Hey, in Texas it's not a bad idea, although that night was a bit chilly for an ice snack - so I went to the In-n-Out truck for a hot hamburger instead.  But this couple (about my age) looked relaxed and peaceful inside that truck - seemingly not a care in the world.  Starbucks might come with a lot of headaches - but I bet shaved ice has a lot less.  But the margins?  Well the margins might actually be higher - ice is cheap - but the volume can't be too good year round. That would be the issue.  (don't waste your time getting an MBA, just remember this, in a nutshell: it's all about high margins, and volume).  And your only employee is your wife - that could be risky too.  I want a lot of young cool looking employees working for me (Starbucks) - wouldn't you?  But the freedom, ya, the freedom would be incredible in this truck.  Now this guy in the truck, as I think about it, he really did look like a rocket scientist.  What does that tell you?
     
Likely, I'm not gonna do any of that.  Here's the problem (for instance): just yesterday I was notified that I had become a "Certified Outsourcing Professional" - a COP.  They're going to mail me my certificate, and I can add the acronym to my business card and put it on LinkedIn too.  Gotta update the resume and stuff like that.  It's a big deal with the type of people I work with - and a pain to get.  It's another one of those 'hooks', that keep you engaged in something you might not care much about in the first place.  It's 'comfortable'.  Typical isn't it, just when I was thinking about a Starbucks or a Shaved Ice truck - I got certified in something else, distracted from what's important.  Regrets.
  
But what am I going to do with my life??  What about you?
    
"Hello - My Name is Regret".  Matthew West has a song out there with those words - great song.  We tell ourselves that we have regrets, and we are defeated.  But we're not.  That's the evil one talking to you.  My real name is "Child of the one True King".   
  
Choose carefully what you do. Love what you do.  So I'm not the model for this yet (working on it) - but you could be!  If you don't love what you do - keep doing it (don't just stop like some people say - that's dangerous) - but keep looking for something else - no regrets - stay alert and on the watch for that special something you might love to do.  Search, discover, investigate - but don't get too comfortable doing what you don't love.  Comfort and familiarity can kill you - the evil one will kill you this way - that's his goal.  He'll rob you of your life, by robbing you of your time on earth.  It's a perfect plan, that plays itself out everyday.   
  
This isn't a new concept, Paul wrote in Ephesians (God's words): "Be careful how you walk, not as unwise men, but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil".  I think what he meant is that we can tend to waste our time, throw away precious time, time you can never get back. 
   
No regrets - that's the goal.
      

Butterflies

I think this is a Monarch butterfly - it might not be a Monarch, but the Monarch's are migrating through Texas now and I figure it was one of those headed to Mexico.  Of course - when I google it for pictures, I can't find one this pretty called a Monarch...it might be a 'painted lady' - anyway .... I figure I'm still too young to go buy a book, get out my binoculars or join a club about it.
 
I took this picture on Halloween night when everyone was dressed up like something they aren't.  Not this guy - he wasn't pretending to be anything but himself - and that was enough.
      
But it did make me think about things this past week - like change.  A lot of things need to change.  We all get bogged down in the hum-drum of life, in the ugly but protected cocoon, we become complacent and satisfied with the status-quo.  Sunday turns to Monday, then the week drags on and it's Saturday, and then Sunday turns to Monday again - until the month is gone, and the quarter ends, and we have a birthday and it's time for the holidays again.  "And the beat goes on."

We just stop living our best life.  It's not intentional - it just happens - creeps up on you.
     
Butterflies live a month, or as long as a year - but no more.  How many life analogies have been drawn from the development and life of a butterfly:  they start pretty unattractive and end beautiful;  they are agents of the pollination to plants;  they have a 4-part life-cycle;  they migrate using the sun as their compass - seeing the polarized light to guide them;  they live by instinct;  they are weak and fragile - yet strong;  they undergo an incredible metamorphosis.
   
A Czech dude named Franz Kafka wrote a book called 'Metamorphosis' - compelling - real to the bone stuff.  I need to go read it again  (this week).
  
So what?  I don't know, I just saw this beautiful butterfly, and wanted to preserve it's place in history by putting it's picture on this page.  Now you've seen it and you can decide what to do about it, but whatever you do - keep changing.  Life is short.

Maybe It's Time to be Beautiful.
    
 
    
 
     

   

Christianity is Losing Ground . . . .

Yesterday, the results of a new Pew survey says that Protestants in the US are in decline.  If you read deep - you find that it's partly because a lot of 'Christians' now belong to non-denominational type organizations which apparently aren't officially 'protestant'.  The devil (himself) is in the details.
  
So the trending line for Protestants is going down, and the trending line for 'unaffiliated' and 'other faiths' is going up in the US.   Net, net?  Who knows . . . . . it could be that going to a Bible Church, or Community Church means you're 'unaffilliated'.  Or it could mean that Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Satanism and Atheists are on the rise, or a combination of both.
    
More disturbing to me is this chart showing Republicans and Democrats.  If you don't see the glaring conflict here between being a democrat and being 'religious', well, then, you see the point . . . .

Statistics, surveys - we know they are full of problems and can't be trusted fully.  For instance, if you're a real follower of Christ, the word 'religion' is not necessarily a good thing anyway - so you have to be careful as everyone has a different way of looking at things and answering surveys.  duh . .
    
But - this Pew research has 3 more things that are really disturbing (as disturbing as the democrat thing).  1) one-third of young adults under 30, now have no religious affiliation and that their ties to organized religion are permanently broken.  2) people identifying with non-Christian faiths is up to 6% from 4% in 2007 (5 yrs).  (doesn't sound like much, but those 2 pts means a 50% increase - an incredible stat, if I did the math right). 3) two-thirds, 2/3, of American adults think that churches should stay out of politics and not back one candidate or the other.
     
Christianity is losing - big time.
   
No real Christian wants to hear that (most don't believe it).  If you went to my church, a mega church, you wouldn't believe it, because it grows and the excitement is there all the time.  But the really BIG picture is different - the national and global picture.   Muslims on the other hand, have it going on.  They are growing fast and furious and are united globally.  Dig deeper into the Pew research (and others), and as a Christian, it will rock you, it will make you quiver and shake if you have any conscious at all.  Maybe it's just me, but I sense that overall, the Christian community (the leadership) is absolutely silent on all of this.  They have stuck their heads in the sand - what else can you do - right?  (fyi, usually my head is deep in the sand).  But Christianity has now become so watered down that it's irrelevant.  Young adults just don't care - and they are the future of America.
 
And if you want to get in really hot water with your Christian friends, just bring up the subject sometime . . . generally, my experience is that you will lose and you are outnumbered - by denial.
 
What do we do?  Stand your ground for Christ.  Don't water down Christianity when you talk to others.  The Bible is about Christ - from beginning to end - Genesis to Revelation.  Christ is a real 'stumbling block' - He doesn't compromise, He isn't a patsy for other religions, He cuts to the chase, He is hated by the world.
   
John 15:  Christ said "If you find the godless world is hating you, remember it got its start hating me.  If you lived on the world's terms, the world would love you as one of its own.  But since I picked you to live on God's terms and no longer on the world's terms, the world is going to hate you."

And pray hard for the Rapture, the Second Coming of Christ - soon! 

Quotes

I love good quotes!  There's a small bookstore in San Diego called 'Upstart Crow' that has racks and racks of cards and notepads and magnets and books of quotes.  We've spent hours in that place (while sipping coffee and chai) reading quotes, laughing, crying, getting some fulfilment- at appreciating a good quote.  Me and my best friends in the world have 20 years of experience - at doing nothing - at Upstart Crow.
   
I just love good quotes.  (this one haunts me . . .)
   
Quotes make you think about things in a different way, and they make you think about things you never thought about - and wondered why not?
  
Every now and then someone says something about quotes that makes you feel silly for loving them - they mock those of us who love quotes.  Those people are fools - so we ignore them.  They're the same  people who think picking up shells at low-tide on the beach is dumb.  Those people are irrelevant and dead inside.
  
The best quotes will make you act.  They compel you to actually do something different when you wake up in the morning.  Great quotes change your perspective - they can actually change your mind, so much so that you quit your job, or break-up with a girlfriend, or buy something you never even wanted, or sell something you thought you couldn't live without, or move to another country, or dedicate your life to something 'crazy'.

Here's another one of my favorites:  "When many things seem to be going wrong, trust Me.  When your life feels increasingly out of control, thank me."  Jesus - 'Jesus Calling - Oct 3'.

See, that's a quote that will do 1 of 2 things:  really make you mad, or change everything about you.  Or both.

Criminalizing Religious Insults

News from Russia today (literally today), is that they are making moves to criminalize religious insults.  "Insulting the feelings of religious believers could be punishable by a fine of $10,000 and 3 years in prison; insulting churches, mosques or synagogues would carry a higher fine and a 5 year prison sentence."  Think about it - a country that once (not very long ago) had no tolerance for any religion, will now throw you in jail for insulting a religion.  It's pure genius - on satan's part!

   

That snake is clever.  At first glance it sounds pretty good - doesn't it?  Stop all those insults and bad art mocking Christ.  Yet, insulting a religion put Jesus on the cross 2,000 years ago  (of course He permitted it to happen, He went there on His own, for us).  If these laws in Russia make there way across Europe, they will have to tear down the statues on the Charles Bridge in Prague (above).  Why, because these images of Christ and His disciples are an insult to other religions, are they not?  The idea that He could die for the sins of all people, to save them and unite them to God - is certainly an insult to Islam and others.

   

They need to go.  And take that cross off your neck - it needs to go too - it's insulting......

      

Europe?  How about America?  We're already there.  I'm telling you, that snake is a genius - very impressive, cloaked in such beautiful clothing and such fine words - pure genius. 

       

Twin Brothers

My son-in-law has a twin brother.  Over the years I've seen this twin brother grow in a number of ways.  He has a new family - two beautiful kids, he has a cool 'friend' (Sara), he's taken on new responsibilities.  It's uncanny how much alike these two brothers are - yet so different - yet so alike - but different.   :)

It's been really exciting for me to watch my son-in-law change over time, but I have to tell you, it excites me equally to see his twin brother change.  They're both maturing in amazing ways that make me proud.  It seems they are both trusting their lives to Jesus more. 
  
Here's what I know:  the more you trust, the more addictive it is to trust.  The more you release and surrender to Christ, the less you worry.  The less you worry, the more you live. The more you live, the more you love.

I'm just glad my grandson has a dad, and an uncle, to take care of him - to watch over him, and to raise him in the Spirit and in the Word.   I know I'll never have to worry about my grandson - they have it covered.   I like to think of these guys as my own sons and I want them to think of me, somehow, as their ('strange') dad.
   
Of course I'm proud of my son-in-law.  But I am so proud of my son-in-laws twin brother too. And, he looks a LOT like my grandson!.  I particularly like how these 2 guys interact with each other - like they know what each other is thinking.  There's a true bond there that nobody can take away (or understand).
           
Jesus had bothers too - we sometimes forget.  Can you imagine being a brother of the Lord?  Can you imagine being the brother of the baby born in a manger in Bethlehem?  Can you imagine playing soccer in the streets of Jerusalem with Jesus - your big brother?  Can you imagine getting into a fight with the neighborhood kids and your big brother shows up, and says: "'I wouldn't do that, trust me".  Can you imagine going out to Starbucks with your brother Jesus, ordering a venti latte, you pull out your wallet, and he says "I've got it bro".  That would be cool.
       
Life just keeps getting better.
 
 

Ms Lucy

Maw Maw was 104 years old (well, 103, but we were just about to celebrate 104 when she passed away).
    
Lucy Bateman.  Born in 1907.  She was my 'unofficial' grandmother.  She was part of my life for the past 35 years.  I married into her, and my own grandmother's have moved on many, many years ago.  So she was it - and I loved every part of her.
      
Maw Maw lived her entire life in Lousiana.  She outlived 2 of her 4 children, and her husband.  She accepted me from the beginning - and that was a tall order for her family.  In 1976 when we met, I was a Californian, with long hair.  Not exactly the small town, slower paced, country grown stock she was accustomed to.  I didn't know anything about farming, hunting, or the Lousiana outback lifestyle.  She explained to me how to enjoy fresh cream (from the cow), molasses over ice cream in the evening, bisquits, grits, rolls (which are NOT bisquits), canned fruits (my favorite became figs), and just sitting on the porch - enjoying the day.  The first hummingbird I ever saw was from her kitchen window - it hovered around this red gizmo that she filled with 'sugar water'.  I'd sit for hours drinking her coffee waiting for the next bird - amazed - it was so close, and they moved so fast they stood still - I couldn't see their wings they moved so fast.  And the coffee - wow.  If you've ever been to Cafe Du Monde in New Orleans - the coffee they serve there is the same coffee Maw Maw made - well, hers was way better - but the Cafe tries.

Everything back then was new to me and she never laughed at me - she just calmly explained things like 'venison is real meat Scot - it won't hurt you'.  Once I came in through the side door to her house and said - 'Maw Maw - there's a deer hanging upside down in the front yard - I think it's dead!'.  Calmly, she said, 'oh, that's just the way we do things around here - don't worry'.  She would reach into the oven, at 400 degrees, and just pull out pots and pans with her bare hands, and set them gently on top of the stove.  She was a master cook, with no documentation.  If you asked her for a recipe, or how much salt to put in, she would say - 'just a pinch' or 'about that much' or 'just enough, but not too much'.  And that was it.
    
Every once in awhile she would sort of apologize to me, as if she was concerned that I might think things weren't quite up to 'city snuff' for me.  I loved that in her.  Here I was, thinking I wasn't good enough or couldn't measure up to her standards, and she was somehow concerned in the same way.  Hard to explain - but that is true humility and love.  She was an elegant lady to the end.   

I never actually saw her go to bed.  I went to bed late and she would be up, then I would get up early in the morning and she was there, with a coffee pot in hand.  And, somehow, in spite of that - she always looked good - real good.
  
She was always the Rock that held everything down and together in the family.  She knew everyone and everyone knew her, and she had earned the respect that everyone gave her.     

There are too many great memories to mention here -            

It won't be the same without Maw Maw - but we'll see her soon - and I can't wait for some early morning hot fresh rolls with butter and figs, along with her special coffee!