I wan't to swear really Loud!!

I think I may officially be at my brink. Or the brink. Or however that cliche' is suppose to go. I will not bore both who read this with the details, but let's just say I want to drop the "F Bomb"..REAL loud. I don't know what could have prevented me from getting to this point, I feel like I conduct myself professionally everyday. I give people the benefit of the doubt. I am compassionate. I run my business ethically. Why am I being bombarded with reasons (not justifiable, but reasons none the less), to just break down. I am finding myself snapping at my kids for being kids. That's sounds cool huh? I think I need a timeout and need to really embrace the concept of His grace being sufficient. We posture, manipulate, or even act in a perfectly logical, justifiable way to get through the day while trying to get all our needs met on our time schedule. I want to stand and recognize that no matter how perfectly I plan all these things out, there are going to be road blocks and dead ends and some days that make me want to scream the "F bomb" at the top of my lungs. But the great thing is, that stuff does not matter, because I am made perfect in weakness and His grace is sufficient for my life. What a huge concept to grasp.
It doesn't matter how good or bad my day is, I have His grace. I have His love. I think maybe I will re evaluate my day. It was actually a pretty good day. I have His grace..

Why Do We?

Proverbs 26:11, 'as a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.' I'm not sure that truer words were ever stated. Proverbs is littered with such truth and wisdom it makes me wonder why i ever read motivational/inspirational/management books. I have to think if i just camp out in Proverbs I will receive every ounce of wisdom ever needed.
Back to the passage: As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly. Not exactly the most pleasant of analogies but spot on! What is it about us that makes us slowly drift from God for a season? Over the last 8-9 years in my pursuit to know the Lord more and more, I can't count how many times i have drifted from center. I'm not talking about living a different lifestyle, just not having Him at the center of your compass. There has not been a single season that He wasn't the center, that I was satisfied. It's like you get a reminder of what that feeling was like before knowing Him as savior. There is that empty feeling that you flat can't fill with anything else. You can try every emotion and high and at the end of the day, you are still unfilled. And then at some point, I decide enough is enough and I start pushing back into Christ. And as the days go by and He is back where He belongs I start to feel fulfilled again. It's not about getting the high, it's truly about getting fed because my soul requires it. Once I start to rest back in Him everything starts falling into its proper place. This doesn't mean everything begins working out in my favor, and i start catching green lights and finding money in my pockets but it absolutely means that God starts trusting me enough to put people in my path once again to share and reveal what He has done in me. It also means that there is a peace that is present during difficult stretches. Our God is so incredibly faithful but I fear sometimes that the next season i drift from Him, He isn't going to be so easy to find.
Why in the world do we feel the need to be so unbelievably foolish as to get lazy with Him when we absolutely unequivocally know that when we are right with Him everything is manageable?

Knight Points

I have been a follower of Christ for about 6 years now. Prior to, I was left to my own devices. Needless to say, there were some bumpy roads. Since giving my life over to Christ, I have experienced varying degrees of hot and luke warm. As most are in the beginning, I was on fire. I could not read enough. I changed all the things I did, watched, listened to, thought, etc., for a season. Since those early days, I have had many inner struggles with God. I have tried to take my life back as my own, only to hear his voice in the back of my mind. Repeat cycle...I have recently lit the flame again and I am excited for what the future holds. Which brings me to my current thoughts. My 5 year old Cooper is a pretty special dude. He is extremely witty, funny, smart, athletic, etc. He is also a wee bit hyper. He does really well in school and I am proud of him. They have a point system for doing "good" things, and I expected him to rewrite the record books....not so much. Call it setting expectations too high or whatever, but I really thought he would be riding up and down the elevator by now (BTW, that is the reward, cool for a 5 year old I guess) Yesterday I asked him if he had gotten a "Knight Point". "No" he said with a hint of disappointment. It turns out, he had got in a bit of trouble that day. "My teacher told me I was out of control." That..sounds about right:) As we talked through it, Cooper said something that I could totally relate to..."the other kids just keep sucking me in". Nevermind the accountability discussion that soon followed, but it got me to thinking about myself. Why am I so easily sucked in by other people. Is it a fear of not being perceived as cool anymore? Is it that I truly enjoy the activity I am buying into at that time. What is it that makes me contribute to things I know don't glorify God. Why do I say I don't want to be of the world, when my actions often reveal me clinging to it. I believe I get "sucked in", because I am not near as strong as I think I am and that comes from a lack of trust in God. Wow, that' hard to say because I know all the right "Christian" things to say. But stripped away, at the core, that is my problem. I challenge "both" people reading this, to let go of the world and begin to trust God. I want to be an example to Cooper of how not to get sucked in, rather than a reinforcement of how to. Maybe then we both will earn a Knight Point...........

Introduction 2

My brother Jason and I decided we should start a blog and hopefully engage with others in an exchange of life experiences, highs/lows and everything in between. My brother opened his first post with several compliments about me and of course my initial instinct was to make light of those compliments or point out a short-coming of mine. Why do we have such trouble accepting compliments? Think about it, someone compliments your shirt/top and each of us is likely to say something like “It was only $15, found it on sale.” Or someone might say “you’re funny”, and we respond with “I’m a dork.” This world could stand to have a massive amount of more of us complimenting each other and building one and other up, but when we dismiss someone’s compliment then are we making it less likely for him/her to do something of that nature again? So I’m going to make a conscious effort to accept compliments when they arrive. Here it goes, Jason, thank you for the kind words. (i survived it.)
Please don’t be alarmed, we will have our fair share of strong disagreements throughout the life of this blog but I am truly blessed to have a brother that is also my best friend. Jay absolutely “get’s it.” Jay is one of those rare people that will open his front door to anyone and within minutes he can disarm the strongest of fronts. You get around Jay and you immediately begin to relax. Jay has a true heart for Christ, is a loving and affectionate husband that never falls into the trap of making inappropriate “guy” jokes about his wife for a cheap laugh. He honors his wife each and every day and I respect that greatly. Jay is also a tremendously committed father of two boys that just happen to own my heart as well.
It is borderline creepy how similar Jason and I’s interests are. We both enjoy seeking the Lord, spending time in the woods, being around family, OU sports, quoting random movie scenes and the occasional 1999 Real World Episodes, and tuning into most every mma fight. I feel ridiculously blessed to have 5 friends I trust with the darkest parts of me and vice versa. I have zero clue where this blog will take us but I sincerely pray that God uses it to touch a single heart as I am certain Jay and I will be discussing several spiritual topics along with a nice blend of senseless nonsense. Jay and I are far from perfect and still have much to learn about Christ but we will attempt to be transparent and authentic.
And in case you haven’t picked up on it, I have a horrible habit of writing in an Apostle Paul type manner, in that I string 3 sentences into 1.
I am challenging everyone reading this to do 2 things this week.
1. Look for someone that appears to need a compliment and deliver it with zero expectations
2. If you receive a compliment, accept it without a negative deflector
Lastly I will leave you with this. If you started with 1 cent on October 1st, and doubled it on October 2nd, and doubled that amount on October 3rd, and so on and so forth. At the end of the month, how much money do you think you would have? Scroll down below for answer………………



















$ 10,737,418.24

Allow me to introduce myself

My brother and I decided to start a blog. We brainstormed on a name and started throwing around lines from movies we liked. Since "You had me at hello" was already taken, we settled on this one. My brother is deep, spiritually mature, funny, charming, compassionate, and thought full. I am not. So allow me to introduce myself, I am a follower of Christ (but not always first). I am a dedicated husband (but not always second). And I the father of two boys (all the time). I have a beautiful wife, whom I love and appreciate with everything in me, but don't always show it. My boys (Cooper 5, Mack 3) are the most precious gift on this earth I have. They are funny, different, hard, loving,sweet, exhausting, patient, out of control, and really cool mixed with a bunch of awesomeness. I am a home builder by trade (fantastic time, huh?). I am fiercely loyal to family and friends. I am a homebody who enjoys hanging out at home as much as anything. I love hunting, OU football, MMA fighting (spectator only). I love to laugh and can make a joke of anything. I can and do quote movies from the 80's and 90's at inappropriate times. What I have found is that with all these interests and hobbies, I have a hard time focusing on the one thing that I believe matters, to know Him and make Him known. ( I realize that's two things, but think of it as breathing, the inhale and exhale...thanks Charlie) So through this trial run of blogging, I hope to talk through and begin to eliminate the peripherals in my life and focus on my/our purpose. Maybe I can drop a nugget of wisdom through some season in my life here or there. Or maybe I can make somebody laugh (did I mention I am really sarcastic and funny?). Who knows, maybe I will learn something. Just be patient with me, I am just a guy trying to figure it out, without the cheat sheet.........J



How do ya like them apples?