Laugh a little!

Had my devotional this morning and read Proverbs 17:22. It says, “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength.”

I think towards the end of my school year, with the various issues going on, I forgot to relax and laugh and enjoy the moments that make life funny.

I can tell you that I did feel my spirit was broken and that did take every ounce of energy and strength I had. Has that happened to you?

Here’s to making life fun today and keeping the strength!

Today is a special day!

Vacation started today! We are heading down 75 south to go to Florida and spend time with some friends and my family.

I have needed this time away for a long time and have been looking forward to it!

Now that it is here, isn’t it hard to shut your brain off of work mode and turn on the relax mode? It is for me. I didn’t stop today until we pulled out of the driveway.

May this time be refreshing and relaxing.

Vacation Summer 2009

Well, we are half way through our vacation this summer. Spent the first half in Orlando where my family is.
Have we done a lot! We have gone to Disney, went to Kelly Park, to my grandmother’s a number of times, got our van fixed, gone tubing, to the pool many times, went to Estero for a few days, visited Amy’s boss, saw movies, went shopping, grilled and lots more.

This has been a relaxing vacation and one that I will remember. It is always good to go home to where my family lives. You hate the start back but when you do arrive home to your own bed there is a sense of relief and a readiness to get back to regular life…or is it reality!

My 3 & 8 year olds have enjoyed this trip and when you add children to your life, I believe it makes vacations even more enjoyable. Seeing their face light up when we do things brings a joy to a Daddy’s heart. Gotta say that I love my family!

Next stop on our vacation is heading back up North and stopping at our good friends’ home in Thomasville, GA, for a few days and then spending some time with my brother and his family in Atlanta…then heading home!

Should be fun!

What the heck am I doing?

There is no doubt that churches have trends.  One of the trends, these days, is the use of the word “missional”.  Now, I am not going to get in to the argument of “is this a good or bad thing”, so if you are looking for that…just move on to another blog.

The word missional is an adjective…a word that describes a noun.  When the words mission and missions are used as a noun, it refers to a specific thing or place, but used as an adjective, it should describe Christianity.  Being a popular phrase today, it is misused quite often.  Many times we think of missions or missionaries as this group of people out in a far land or place rather than the whole body of Christ…okay, I’m starting to get on my soapbox…on to the point.

I was thinking about my blog that I have and my facebook and also twitter…is there a point that I admit that I am addicting to these things and others as well and that it actually gets in the way of my mission? I literally spend hours on these items when I could be out fulfilling the mission of Christ.

Don’t get me wrong, I do believe that connecting with people online and also learning different things from blogs can truly help with me being missional, but it seems to me that I am spending more time connecting with people online that face to face…for me, I have a problem with that.

See, its like this: I believe that people are spending more time online or reading to “learn” about being missional then they “actually are” practicing being missional.

So, what about you? What has you wrapped up so much that it takes away a lot of time actually being a Christian and fulfilling the “mission” that God has for you?

I am challenging myself to be more focused online and spend less time just “roaming” and do what I need to get done and then get off line.  I am also challenging myself to have more of a purpose with my small group that I lead and invest in people rather than online with all my tech toys.

Simply put…I challenge you to do the same.

How do you live your life…on a balance beam.

This video was passed on to me from a friend.  Take a few minutes and view this video and reflect on your own life and how you live it.

So far, so good…for a Monday.

Today wasn’t so bad…for a Monday.  Monday’s historically have never been good for me.  I don’t know why…that is the way it has been.  Went to work early; went to my AD meeting (I was representing CCS & CHCA…interesting); went to a coffee shop and worked on my laptop; went home and did some chores then played with the girls; put the girls to bed and spent a few quite moments listening to the birds outside.

Since moving up North, I have come to appreciate the sounds of Spring and Summer! Trees are starting to bud and grass is starting to turn to a dark green; families are taking walks outside.  It’s amazing to me, but when living in Florida, those things weren’t such a big deal.  Now they are.

I had a great small group meeting on Sunday.  Man, I love my small group.  We have such a good mix of people and we are truly growing closer together.  Check out our blog at www.vccsmallgroup.wordpress.com. 

Rest of the week looks good.  My life will get busier by the week since I am splitting time between schools…trying my best to close out my time at CCS and trying to get to know “the lay of the land” at CHCA.  I find myself in awkward positions at times, but ooh well, my choosing.  I have to live with it.

Arthur E. Topmiller 1899-1962

This morning, taking a challenge from a series that our church is doing, I listened to an mp3 at a cemetery.  That is right…a cemetery! It was a great but odd experience.  I don’t think it is just for me to explore…I think everyone needs to do this.   When I was listening to this week’s “challenge”, I came up to a big statue of Jesus sitting and looking up to the heavens.  There were two benches near this statue so I sat down and listening to my ipod.  It was a great challenge for me personally.

I really won’t go in to detail because it was just God and I and I really don’t want to share the details…you know, just a “God and me” thing.  Anyways, I have included a link below that takes you to my church’s web page where you can download the mp3 to your ipod.  Take my challenge and download it, then go find a cemetery and listen to it as you walk through it.  If you listen to it, you will understand why the title to my post!

After doing this, I truly believe that it would be good for all of us to walk through a cemetary to think about our life and what we are currently doing with it.  If you take this challenge, please let me know if the experience was good for you.

Here is the link: www.vineyardcincinnati.com/reset.php  It is the week 4 challenge that you want.  Load it on an ipod or mp3 player and take it with you.

Something Amazing.

My church, Vineyard Community Church in Cincinnati, is currently doing a six week series called “RESET” with over 40 churches and thousands of people.  This is an all-church series.  It is amazing that we have many different styles of churches and many different denominations coming together to learn about Christ.  It has been amazing! I wish our churches would do this alot more1

Check it out at http://www.vineyardcincinnati.com/reset.php

It’s been a while…alot has gone on.

Well, it has been quite a while since my last post.  Life has been very, very busy for me.  Over the past couple of weeks, I have been dealing with some news that is..well…bittersweet.  I am currently the athletic director of Cincinnati Christian Schools and have been for 2 1/2 years.  My family and I moved up from Florida a few years back to be closer to my wife’s parents. 

Before moving up to the Cincinnati area, I sent my resume to Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy and, at that time, they told me there were no openings.  I sent my resume there first since it was alot like the school I came from in Florida in size and style of athletic program.  God had other plans and Cincinnati Christian Schools  had an opening for the athletic director position…which was perfect for me.

Well, word got out at the beginning of this school year that CHCA was starting their search for an athletic director that would replace the current athletic director who is retiring.  I didn’t put my name in the hat right away, but due to a number of things that happened in my life and at the school I am currently at…I put my name in the hat and asked God to show me what He wanted for me.  There were over 70 applications turned in! I thought it was a huge long shot for me. 

Over a period of 5 months, God lead me through a series of very long and detailed interviews with a search committee.  In the end, it came down to two people and CHCA called me a few weeks ago and offered me the opportunity to be the next athletic director.  At that point, we had prayed about it for a few months and I knew that if they offered it to me…I would take it.

I wasn’t looking for a change, but with CHCA having this opening, I couldn’t let the opportunity slide by without trying.  CHCA is one of the best Christian schools in the U.S. and one of the top private schools in Cincinnati.  Click here to see the article in Cincinnati Magazine.

I will cherish my time at CCS and will miss working with my student-athletes and coaching staff of whom I love so much, but…I am excited about the opportunity that God has given my family to develop new relationships and the opportunity to take CHCA to the next level in athletics!

Make it a great week!

Our New President

I have been thinking a lot the past few days about our new President and how I think he will do in this very mighty position.  I am fascinated by tradition and particularly interested in the tradition of how our government moves from one President to the next.  How they move one President out and how they move another in takes a lot of work!  Anyways, to my point…Pastor Bob Coy, a pastor of a mega church in Fort Lauderdale gives his opinion of our new President…very good stuff.  I follow Bob Coy a lot and love his messages.

Check the video below on his thoughts.  Very good…at least I think.