The phrase that people always use when something breaks down is, “How can they put a man on the moon and they still can’t make a good (insert: hair dryer, waffle iron, etc.)?!
I think maybe it’s time we just accepted the fact that putting a man on the moon wasn’t that hard.
(taken from "Bits of Life" by Aaron Donley from Burnside Writers Collective)
From the first day that Taylor showed up on American Idol I've loved him. I can't tell you how much it makes me smile every time he's on the show. His voice is so amazing and his dance moves are so spectacularly bad that you know they are 100% legit and not rehearsed.
Please oh please oh please America, do this one thing for me and I will never ask you for another thing… please vote for Taylor to be the American Idol. If you don't I don't know if I could ever believe in America again.
I was at Panera meeting a LifeGroup leader for lunch and I got up to get a refill on my Doctor Pepper. Of course there was about a million people trying to pick up their orders as well as fill their little cups with the sweet nectar of soda. There was this one old guy in front of me who motioned for me to go ahead of him, so of course I did because I really needed some more D.P. While I was filling my cup I heard him tell a few more people to go ahead of him. Someone said, "oh know, you go on." He said, "no, I'm retired. I've got all the time in the world, you people are all in a hurry, so go right ahead."
I'm not retired, in fact I'm soooooo far from it, but come on, isn't this perspective fresh? When I live like I've got all the time in the world I'm able to put others ahead of me. This old guy had already quit his job, there was nothing that he felt like he still had to do, and therefore he could put others first. It's pretty awesome to have an old retired guy remind me that I'm already dead, and since I'm already dead, there's nothing that I'm in a hurry to do.
Go ahead, I'm dead. It's no longer I who live, but it's Christ who lives in me.
booya!
I would like to introduce you to some of my friends that I just added links to. Take some time and check them out.
Jonny Rice:: It's kind of weird that I left him off the list originally. I'm not sure why that is, but now he's getting a nice shout out. Jonny and I went to school together and worked at camp together, but most importantly he's my brother's roomy (you can read from their ridiculous blog here, you won't regret it). Jonny's a smart cookie and a great writer. Take some time to enjoy.
Matt Kitchen:: Matt's the guy who thought up most of socialTruth and is just using me for my good looks and killer personality. We're in the same LifeGroup and are becoming better friends each day (yes, this is Mr. Rogers Neighborhood).
Ryan James:: I've never met Ryan James, but I like him. He has connections with 707 and designed their current web page, and the redesign that will be launching soon. He's spent some time with Relevant (mostly designs things there, like their webpage and some nice sports cars for the launch of RelevantCars). He's on the move to the great state of Maryland, and more than anything I think he's a pretty awesome guy. Check out some of his thoughts and art over at eskimoNation
We've "officially" launched socialTruth.com. If you were lucky enough to see the pilot you know that we (Andy Sikora & Matt Kitchen) might just be the two most engaging personalities around.
It's more than just about us though. We want your thoughts and input. You can register, tell us what you think about what we're talking about, vote in our weekly poll and tell us where you see truth in society.
Head on over to socialtruth.com and join in the fun. Check it out, we're taking over the world.
Today was the first real "spring" day here in the Cleveland area. We had a lot of rain at times, but the temperature was near 70 for a good portion of the day. It just so happened that I had scheduled to meet my friend Zach for a run. There's a great park about 5 minutes away that has an amazing trail that runs for over 50 miles. So we started running with partly cloudy skies, 65 degrees, and a strong wind. Half way through the run a light sprinkle started. With about a mile to go the rain and wind was so strong that neither of us could see more than 3 feet in front of us and the rain was hitting us so hard that you could hear it smack off the others body. It was truly the worst weather I've ever run in.
Oh yeah… and I loved it.
When trying to make the decision of whether or not Meri and I should move to Cleveland a friend of mine told me that most people tend to make decisions based on the 2 or 3 most recent snapshots of their life. That no one really thinks about the past and almost nobody really looks to the future, but instead they look only at yesterday, today and tomorrow.
I've been thinking a lot lately about how young I am. I'm only 26 years old.
I work with this guy named Dale, an amazing man of God, who's 53 years old. Yesterday he and his wife celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary. As he shared about their anniversary celebration I was reminded again how young I am. He talked about who they were when they first got married and who they are now. How they had been through so much. Dale's 30 years older than me. He and his wife have been married 10 times as long as Meri and I.
There's so much time left.
I am constantly freaking out about the 3 snapshots that I'm looking at. I look at the picture of yesterday, I see the picture of tomorrow, and I start freaking out about how "slow" things seem to be going today. I've been living an adult life for 4 years (which if we're being honest is longer than I've ever done anything in my life) and will probably be doing it for at least 40 or 50 more years.
There are so many snapshots yet to be developed. It's OK that I haven't become everything that God has called me to be. It's just fine that my circle of influence isn't huge. It really is a good thing that I'm still getting to know my wife, and maybe even a better thing to realize I'm just starting to get to know myself.
I just need to chill the heck out, enjoy the snapshots, and live.
