Pushing 'Play'

(Disclaimer: Treat this blog as as much of a journal for Courtney and I as anything else. When I say “lesson” what I mean is a lesson I’m making a note of in my head. I am not about to shove lessons down the people’s throats that read this blog. Because you are all better people than I.) Courtney and I recently listened to a great sermon from our former church in Charlotte based on the book of Haggai. I didn’t even know the book existed before (don’t judge me, I’m trying to be authentic). It is two short chapters near the end of the Old Testament with a great history and spiritual lesson. Here’s a brief recap. In around the 7th Century BC the people in Jerusalem were attacked and sent into exile by the Babylonians. The Babylonians basically torched the place; the homes, the temple that Solomon built, everything. For years the Jews lived in exile and then another empire arose in Persia and defeated the Babylonians. Lesson one: never be a bully, there will always be someone quicker, younger, stronger than you that may kick your butt. The leader of this Persian empire, Cyrus, felt led by God to let the Jews return to their Promised Land and rebuild their homes and temple. He even provided them the resources to do so. They returned and got the foundation of the temple built. Then resources began to run low and financial and political unrest grew and work stopped on the temple. They devoted their resources to their food, homes and in general living. Then they received a message from God through the prophet Haggai, “How is it that it’s the ‘right time’ for you to live in your fine new homes while the Home, God’s Temple, is in ruins? (1:4)” WHOOPS! Not the message you’re hoping to wake up one morning and receive. God then gave them direction and encouragement, “I am with you.(1:13)” Lesson 2: If you feel led to call someone to the carpet on something, do so briefly and without apology, then encourage them moving forward. Of course, they proceeded to finish the temple and even though they felt it wasn’t as spectacular as Solomon’s first temple, God promised it would be. “This Temple is going to end up far better than it started out, a glorious beginning but an even more glorious finish: a place in which I will hand out wholeness and holiness.(2:9)” It just so turned out to be the place Jesus was dedicated, thousands were saved and the temple in which the curtain tore when Jesus died. Basically a remarkable place. Lesson 3: Giving back to God doesn’t have to be pretty, just intentional and meaningful. So on to my point. How many times in our lives do we put what is important on pause while we focus on all the wrong things? How many times do we put giving back to God, where we get everything in the first place, on pause to build our own temples? Courtney’s previous blog points out exactly what I’m feeling. While certain aspects of our lives have certainly been on fast forward (really fast, like >>> fast), a certain part of our spiritual lives have been on pause. We’re spending time in the word and in community, but we haven’t been giving back to God. We keep asking Him for more and more, while giving less and less. That’s not being a good friend. Think about if you know someone that always seems willing to take and take and take, but never give. Not a great feeling towards them, is it? So if you believe as I do that everything I have comes from God, and I don’t give back, then I’m just ‘that guy’. It is time to push “Play” and refocus my energy in all my relationships starting with God, my wife, my child and my family and friends. Thank you for *listening* and peace and love to you. Thanks Will.

Invincible

Surprise! It's Courtney writing today. I am not as talented as my husband at blogging, but this morning I have the urge to do so. I was just reading something this morning that made me stop for a minute and even though Thanksgiving has already passed, a huge wave of thankfulness just swept through my body. And while it brings such joy and peace to my heart, it also makes me ache for others. Either those who aren't as fortunate or for those who are but for some reason can't see what they have. Most of you who know Jarod, Liam and me well know that we have 2 houses (one that won't sell), 3 cars (again...one that we need to sell), a new baby (NO!, not for sale), downsized careers, maternity leave and we are trying to open a business at the same time. Money is getting tight and stress levels are rising. Just this past week the stress has really started setting in. Even to the point where Jarod and I got frustrated with each other (which honestly happens like once a year). It's the first time in a while that we have stress to the level of our chests tightening and I have to say I somewhat like it. Yep. I said I like it. It has made me think and pray and analyze and think and pray. All of this thinking, praying and analyzing has brought me to the place that I am this morning. So incredibly thankful, in so many different aspects of the word. I know that no matter what happens on this earth I will ALWAYS have my faith, my unreal husband and my precious baby boy. Those are all that I need to survive. I know that nothing can take away my faith and if something tragic were to happen that would take away the beings of my husband or son, nothing can take away the experiences that I've had with both. I have experienced love on this earth from both of them that can NEVER be beat. To realize all of this over this past week and to have taken the time to process it and stew over it has been so refreshing. I somewhat feel invincible. Nothing can tackle me. Nothing can strip me of what is vital to me. My God has instilled in me all that I need to love Him and trust in Him and He has given me all that I need to love and adore my family. Why do I find it so hard to TRUST in my God at times? Every single time I remember to TRUST Him and lean on Him. There is always a sense of stabilty and peace and "everything is going to be ok"-idness. Therefore, I am so thankful. Who cares if our house doesn't sell and we end up with no money. Who cares if we cut our salaries in half to go after a dream. Who cares even if that dream fails. We know why we went after it in the first place and will never regret that. We will always be able to at least get by financially. In wordly ways, we may struggle some. But, the important thing is that our hearts are always full and always overflowing so that we may always be able to give from them. To share everything in our hearts so that others may feel love the way that we get to feel love. To sum this all up.....I am thankful for my God who loves me and provides for me. I am thankful for my strong yet tender husband. I am thankful for this little ball of love of a son that I have. But, mostly, I am thankful for stress. This stress reminds me of everything I have that can never be taken from me. And after this time passes, we will all still have each other. At the fact (not risk...fact) of being cheezy.....I encourage you to take a second and think about what cannot be taken from you. What do you possess in your heart that is so concrete that it could never be chipped away at? What are you thankful for today? To realize it will make you feel invincible.

Love Oozes

Thanks for wanting to share in Liam's life and thanks for being willing to do it via this blog site. I feel like I need to apologize. You come here anxiously awaiting pictures of Liam and in turn receive about 250 words about whatever random thought I'm having at the moment. That is, of course, if you read it! Liam is doing great. After a short bout with baby acne (I reminisced) he is doing and looking great. We're really working on that first purposeful smile and holding our heads up right now. It's really amazing how having a child opens up a whole new wardrobe of emotions that I don't think exist consciously to a person until that child is born. You learn a real lesson about grace, mercy and love that you can't experience before you have a child. It is no stronger than the love you feel for a spouse, but different and equally cool! When I'm holding him and he's asleep with me, I am only hoping that the love that I'm feeling for him is oozing out of me and wrapping itself all around and throughout him. I hope that is the feeling that he is learning and taking in from Courtney and I. Courtney is the exact definition of love. Evertything about her is love. So if he doesn't learn it from her, we have a problem. Don't you wish you could just exude love to anyone around you at any time and they could feel it and perhaps make their day. I actually think maybe you can. I mean, typically you can tell when someone is giving off negative energy around you, so why not positive emotions? How many times do we wake up and say "I am going to impact someone's day for the better today." Life can be broken down (over)simply into a series of decisions all day long right? Whether or not to get up for work. Which route to take to work. Whether or not to flip that person the bird that wouldn't let you in so you have to go to the next exit and backtrack? I would like to actually tally mark every single decision I make in one day and see how many times I made the right decision. As vague as 'right' can be, I will define it as something that would be a more positive impression for another person watching objectively or could see into my heart and mind. I bet I would fail miserably. Then I could set a goal of increasing my percentage of 'right' decisions over time and hopefully make more of a positive impact on the world. What if everyone charted their decisions and made a 1% improvement from one day to the next. On an aggregate level that would only be a 1% increase, but it would also be 6 billion percentage point increases. That's a lot of 'right' decisions. The world would look completely different! Hmmm, I'm going to challenge myself to make more and more 'right' decisions everyday. Care to join me? (Ok, that was like 3 random thoughts that are very loosely connected at best - join me next time on why I think the Writers Guild of America strike is a good thing). Funny video of the week for me. This is my nephew Casey at his 2nd birthday party. Check him out when he notices the camera and gives the camera direction to "SMILE!". The video didn't capture it as good as it was live, but it's still funny! http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7609247169125944823 Peace, love and happiness to you.