Things on my mind today

Been a long but interesting week. Here are few random thoughts as I reflect on the week so far.

• Glad I ventured out and started a conversation this week with a stranger. Not my normal comfort zone but I think this is an area I am growing in right now. I've met lots of new people recently and really enjoy it. Not sure how that works with my desire to take friendships to a deep level, but just another area of tension I will wrestle with.


• Decided I am wimp. Had the opportunity to share my passion for Christ last night and didn't take it because the enivronment wasn't favorable. What would it have cost me other than some uncomfortable conversation? Time to man up. Hard to say that I would die for Jesus when I didn't even risk being uncomfortable around some co-workers.


• Realized again how important it is to be surrounded by people who will encourage and build you up. If I hadn't had the opportunity to be around a couple of those people this week, it would have been a very draining week. Don't know how people do it without having a community around them.


• If you have a vice of any kind, you probably shouldn't spend much time in Vegas alone. There is a reason it is called Sin City.


• Love the mountains. Manage to hike at Red Rock Canyon three times this week (maybe a fourth today). A couple of those times were a good chance to slow down and try to hear God. Good to have Him take a look at my heart.


• Ready to be home and spend some time with my family. Don't understand how people travel all the time for their jobs. I like to travel and see new places, but think it would get real old real fast if I did it all of the time.

Just a few of the things bouncing around in my tired mind today. Take a few minutes and reflect on your week. Have you seen God move in it? Have you found out something about yourself? Good to stop and reflect every so often in this 100 mph world we live in.

Convictions

Had the chance to make it back out to Red Rock Canyon to do a little more hiking/rock climbing yesterday. It was nice to sit on the top of the Calico rocks (Red Rock and Calico are my two favorite areas to hike and climb) and just be quiet. You are surrounded by so much noise and action on the strip that it was a good change of pace for me. Gave me a little chance to reflect on what I've been reading out of John Ortberg's book "Faith & Doubt".

He was talking about the 3 different types of convictions we have. The first one is public convictions (think politicians for this one). This is what I want other people to think I believe, even though I may not really believe them. These are the things we say out loud. If you ask someone what their convictions are in life these are the ones you will hear. They may be the same as the other two convictions but not necessarily. The second one is private convictions. These are the things I sincerely think I believe, but turns out they may be fickle. These are the convictions that we believe, but find out we may not really believe them when our circumstances change. The final one is our core convictions. These are the ones that are revealed by our daily actions. They show by what we actually do. They basically can be summarized by the convictions we say, think and reveal. The last one is the one that I want to focus on in my life. What does the way I live reveal about my convictions? To those of you who know me, I would love your feedback on this. Is there a connect between the the things I say and believe and the way I actually live out life? As I stated in an earlier blog, Vegas is a great place to reveal what people's core convictions are. I have seen people who in Tulsa state certain convictions, but those don't match what I see here. My desire it to line these three up as much as possible with the way that Jesus lived. Ortberg talked about the "mental map" we have (the way things really are and the way life really works). For Jesus these were the same thing. That is where I want to be that my convictions are the way that things really are. Good thoughts to sort through while having a fantastic view of the surrounding mountains and the strip from my spot on the the top of the mountain. Gives renewed meaning to a mountaintop experience.

Thoughts from another world

Read this quote from Madeleine L'Engle in John Ortberg's new book that made me stop and think

Those who believe they believe in God

but without passion in the heart, without anguish of mind,

without uncertainty, without doubt, and even at times without despair,

believe only in the idea of God, and not in God himself.

Like that quote a lot because I often have doubts and uncertainty. I think I know what God desires but often question the way it all works. My doubts and questions often lead to a deeper faith in God because I can't wrap my mind around it.

Some random thoughts from the last couple of days:

• Want to know what a person is really like? Take a trip to Vegas with them. Since anything seems to be fair game here, people tend to bring out into the open the things they normally think or do in private. Interesting things to learn about people and yourself.
• If the money that was spent by people in Vegas in one night was put towards some of the bigger global issues like clean water in Africa or aids, I think a huge impact could be made globally.
• People that are drunk aren't nearly as funny as they think they are. Would love to video tape some people and play it back to them a couple days later. They just don't get it.
• Recommend John Ortberg's new book "Faith & Doubt". Like the open and transparent feel of the book. Good topics to discuss.
• Think my personality is changing somewhat over the last several months. Maybe not changing but parts are coming out more. Seem to be more passionate about things (probably the result of being free from the stress I was under at my old job) and venturing into new areas of interest. Love the diverse influences in my life right now.
• Not sure how anybody finds the information at tax training "amazing". Heard several comments like that yesterday and had to laugh. Seriously? This is amazing to people? I think they need to get a life.

Well those are a few of my thoughts from the other planet I am living on this week.

Friends on a plane

Had an amazing time yesterday meeting a new friend and spending some time with some old friends. Normally I am not one to carry on much of a conversation with the people I meet on the plane. A general hello and why are you heading to such and such place. After that I usually try to get in some reading time or listen to the latest tunes on my IPod. Yesterday was totally different for me. The plane was filled to capacity so I knew that I would be sitting by someone on the flight and was hoping it wasn't the 400 pound person that would take up part of my seat as well. (Not the way I want to spend a three hour flight.) A guy finally did fill in the middle seat in the row I was in and I think it was one of those encounters that happen for a purpose. I noticed he had a book that I had started to read awhile back by Craig Groschel and asked him about it. Well that lead to an interesting conversation (I love finding out about people's stories and how the arrived where they are at in life) about his life and that he feels he is maybe being prepared to become a pastor or counselor. Anyway, the conversation lasted basically the entire three hours as we discussed life and the way God has been working in and through our lives. As we discussed things he mentioned he was going skydiving later this week after his conference. I am thinking this the type of friend I would hang out with so I asked him if he wanted to go hiking later that day at Red Rock Canyon. So later that day we went hiking for several hours and had some great conversation and got to take in some amazing views (hope to have some pictures to post later as he also happens to be interested in photography and took some pictures while we were out there). We are suppose to get together for dinner later this week and he continues to try to talk me into going skydiving. Strange to me that I met a new friend on a flight to Vegas. Go figure.

Later that night I had the chance to hang out with some friends that I have known for 20+ years. Great time to catch up a little on life and be challenged by my friend to step into a larger leadership role at church (a reoccurring theme with some of my friends). As I was heading back to the hotel at about midnight (2:00 a.m. for my body) I was thinking how interesting it was that here I was in Vegas and had the chance to spend time with a new friend and someone who has know me from way back when. Funny how God decides to use us and gives us the opportunity to invest in other people's lives whether it may be for a short season (hopefully it last for a longer season) and for over 20 years. Just reinforced to me that no matter where we are at in live that we are to be moving His kingdom forward by meeting the needs around us and investing in people. Hope your day is filled with some incredible opportunities to do just that.

Stop doing list

My wife is the master of to do lists. Me not so much. I wing it and hope my memory serves me well (or better yet ask her to write it down on her list). Most people, whether that write it down or not, have a to do list. We keep adding things to our list that need to get done, but do we have a stop doing list? I often hear people saying that they have no free time or margin in ther lives. They are so stressed out and need an extra couple of hours each day to just get done what they need to. Well, last time I checked I don't think we can add any extra time in a 24 hour day. So why don't we create a stop doing list? I think learning to say no to things is hard for most people. A good idea comes along and we want to jump on board. Great, but what are you going to take off your to do list to make room for it? I've learned over the last several years for me to have the type of relationships that I want that I have to create margin in my life and schedule. Sometimes that means saying no to something so that I keep that margin. I can't really think of anything that I've said no to that I feel that I missed out on, but I know that I would be where I am at today if I hadn't created time for those awesome relationships that I have. So my question is what do you need to put of your stop doing list? Actually make a list right now. What things are eating up the margin in your life?