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Looking for the pony

Some of you have already discovered her. You may have noticed recently that the web has become a much more beautiful place. That’s because my wife is now online blogging away.

The story goes that two parents had an obsessively optimistic little girl. No matter what happened, she would always see the good in every situation. After a while, this became very annoying to the parents. They were concerned that their little girl would not be able to relate to the real world without truly acknowledging the bad. They decided that for her next birthday, they would show her that life really is not fair all the time.

When the day of her birtday arrived, they presented her with an enormous, gift wrapped box that almost big enough to fit a small car. Her eyes lit up as she spied the gift. When the time came to open her gifts she immediately tore into her large gift. Her parents stood to the side wondering if they were about to scar her for life. Nevertheless, they allowed her to continue opening her “gift”.

As she pushed the top of the box aside, she hesitated for a moment. The box was filled with manure. The parents and friends waited and watched to see her reaction. After a moment, the little girl began squeeling with delight as she dove in and began to dig into the manure. Her parents and the party goers were mortified and knew the little girl had lost her mind. The parents asked, “Why are you so excited about a box of poo?” With sheer delight, she exclaimed, “With this much crap, there’s bound to be a pony in here somewhere!”

I hope you enjoy reading Jen’s blog as she looks for her pony.

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Way down upon the Suwannee River

I had an amazing time today with Pastor George Brantley, his son, Andrew, and daughter-in-law, Jessica fishing on the Suwannee River. We didn’t catch many fish but the weather was beautiful and I had an great time.

It’s easy to get caught up in the rat race of life and forget to slow down. There were long stretches of time today when nobody talked. There was only the sound of a gentle breeze, birds singing in the reeds and the sound of mullet jumping in the water. There were no motors, no cars, no one asking questions. We were miles away from any cell signal and it was a beautiful thing.

While we were fishing, Jennifer and Pastor Suzanne were out shopping, laughing and telling stories like they were long lost friends. When Jen and I met back up at the condo, neither of us were worn out or frazzled. We both felt as though we had been revived.

God brought us to Gainesville under the guise of speaking at The Rock’s commencement ceremony. But, we have received much more than we have given. Pastor George and Suzanne, we love you!

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Attitude is everything

As I finished up preperations to speak tonight, I have been reminded about the importance of our attitudes. It is all too easy to let circumstances dictate our outlook. We may feel that, because of adversity or hardship, risk should be avoided. This could not be farther from the truth.

Helen Keller, a blind and deaf author and educator, said…

Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing. To keep our faces toward change and behave like free spirits in the presence of fate is strength undefeatable.

You may say, “But, you don’t know what has happened to me.” This is true. Life may be very hard. It may be unfair. You must choose whether your circumstances dictate the course of your life or your attitude.

Chuck Swindoll eloquently put it this way…

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company… a church… a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past… we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you… we are in charge of our Attitudes.

Where is your attitude taking you?

I’m off to inspire some graduates…

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Full circle?

Jennifer and I are finishing up our packing tonight as we head out to The ROCK of Gainesville tomorrow. I will be the keynote speaker at The ROCK School graduation on Friday night. It is a great honor to speak to seniors as they start a new chapter in their lives. As soon as Pastor Svend called to ask if I would come, I knew what I would say. It’s going to be a trip.

We’ll hang out with Pastors George and Suzanne Brantley and Pastor Svend and his wife Katie. It’s going to be a great time. Pastor George was my youth pastor 20 years ago in Panama City. All the guys looked up to him as “the man.” He had a beautiful wife and three boys. How much more manly could a guy be? If we could be like that when we grew up, we would have arrived. Tomorrow, I head to Gainesville with a beautiful wife and three boys of my own. Kinda makes me feel good about where God has brought me.

Stay tuned. I’ll post pictures and afterthoughts later this week.

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My list…

I wanted to post this list earlier than now. I am on the backside of a stint of pneumonia. So, I hope the list makes sense.

1. Write a book (God’s Ink)
2. Go to Tibet
3. Take a long, cross country vacation with Jen and the boys (like mom took when she was a girl)
4. Swim with a whale shark
5. Dive the Galapagos
6. Catch a monster marlin
7. Run a 5K in under 24 minutes again
8. Have a personal, executive coach
9. Meet Bono
10. Fly in a dog fight
11. Spend the night at the White Swan, do that thing we do there and hang out with Dr. Lamb, again
12. Own a house overlooking Palancar Reef
13. Drive a tricked out Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon
14. Have a picture published (preferably an underwater photograph)
15. Help all of our boys find their purpose and their wives (same thing, right?)
16. Hold my great, great grandchildren and whisper blessing in their ears
17. Grow very old with my wife and chase her in my hover ’round.
18. Succeed my father, stand on his shoulders and lead this amazing church (when it’s time)
19. Have more patience, peace and determination to not give up. No matter how hard life gets.
20. Finish strong.

So, if you haven’t told us yet, why not take a few minutes to let us know what’s on your list?

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