Guatemala Family Mission Trip

This summer our family is going on a mission trip to Guatemala to serve at New Life Children's Home.  Last year a team from our church's Student Ministry went there to serve, and this year we're excited to be a part of a team of 12 Christ Church members traveling to Villa Nueva, Guatemala from June 25 - July 2, 2016.

New Life Children's Home (NLCH) is home for about 55 children from ages 3-23 years.  Some of the children are orphans, some are abandoned, and some come from broken or abusive homes.  In addition to the home, there is a Christian school and a medical clinic on the property.   As their website describes, it is truly a "home" where the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of children are met.  Special attention is given to introducing them to Jesus Christ, nurturing and discipling them in a relationship with Jesus, and providing each child with a sound academic education...turning children in crisis to children in Christ!

We will be staying at the home during a week in which the children are off from school so we'll have the opportunity to put on a Vacation Bible School, participate in their summer sports programs, and just spend time building relationships with the children.  Our mission team is beginning to meet regularly, and our fundraising efforts began a few weeks ago with a successful garage sale and our upcoming Memorial Day Barbecue Boston Butt fundraiser.

As our trip approaches, I have begun reading a suggested book, "When Helping Hurts" by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert.  I hope this reading will inspire me to resume my blog activity here, and my own personal journaling.  In closing, I ask you to please pray for our team going Guatemala.  Please pray for safe travels and for our safety while we are there serving, but also pray that the children will see Christ's love through us as we follow Jesus' command from John 13:34 "just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another."  

The Bible Project Reading Plan 2016

In this New Year I'm looking forward to beginning my days in 2016 by following a new Bible reading plan I discovered a few weeks ago from The Bible Project.  I started following these guys on twitter @JoinBibleProj earlier this year after I ran across some of the creative videos they produced summarizing various books of the Bible and key overarching themes found in scripture.  All of their current videos can be found on their You Tube channel as they continue to produce additional videos for each of the 66 books in their Read Scripture Series.

My first attempt to read thru the Bible in a year was back in 2010, which was a transitional year for me (career transition) and transformational year as well (Downline discipleship training).  In 2012-2013, I read thru a 2-year Bible reading plan.  Last year at this time I remember searching for a different kind of reading plan, and I settled on one that consisted of reading one chapter per day from the New Testament, with one of the Gospels placed into each quarter.  While I really liked this NT Bible Eater plan, I had some challenges in following this plan consistently in 2015 and I failed to follow it completely.  So, part of my motivation for this year is to return to an entire Bible reading plan, so I've joined The Bible Project's "Read Scripture in 2016" group and look forward to receiving their weekly emails of encouragement and support thru the reading plan.  Also, I began supporting their ministry as a monthly donor.

Another way in which I hope to invest in this reading plan is by sharing my reading experience with my girls by sharing with them some of The Bible Project videos.  Both Taylor, and especially Nicole, spend a lot of time watching You Tube videos so it seems only natural that they would have interest in seeing these short videos illustrating the subject of each book in the Bible.  My prayer is that these videos might help serve as a valuable tool in helping my girls understand the Bible more fully and instill a longing desire within each of them to read through the Bible for themselves.

As I prepare to embark on this Bible reading journey, I pray that my plan to read thru the Bible is a true reflection of my heart's desire to hear God speak truth into me daily, and that I would take the time needed to pray and meditate on the scripture.  Also, I pray that I would not let this plan become routine, or even approach my daily reading merely as a challenge, or worry about missing some daily readings.  I look to this reading plan as an opportunity to grow closer in my walk with Jesus and to know and love God more dearly.

Happy New Year!  Embrace the fresh beginning God wants to give you in 2016!

The Names of Jesus

During this season of Advent as we prepare and anticipate the celebration of Christ coming into the world, our family has started a new dinner time tradition this year by reading a scripture verse with a unique name for Jesus each night as we countdown the days until Christmas.  This has been a great way to focus on Jesus and for us to discuss His many wonderful attributes.

After finding this list below of 25 different names for Jesus, I ran across another blog that had 100 Names of Jesus listed in alphabetical order.  As I read these names of Jesus, I've challenged myself to reflect daily on how His character is described throughout the Bible and how I may reflect His light in the world.

The Names of Jesus

1. Jesus: Read Matthew 1:21

2. Immanuel: Read Isaiah 7:14 and Matthew 1:23

3. Messiah: Read Mark 8:29

4. Light of the World: Read John 8:12

5. Savior: Read John 4:42

6. The Word: Read John 1:1 and Revelation 19:13

7. Lamb of God: Read John 1:29

8. First Born of Every Creature: Read Colossians 1:15

9. Good Shepherd: Read John 10:11

10. Alpha and Omega: Read Revelation 22:13

11. Wonderful Counselor: Read Isaiah 9:6

12. The Christ: Read Matthew 16:16

13. Holy One: Read Mark 1:24

14. God with Us: Read Luke 2:1-20

15. Friend: Read Matthew 11:19

16. Son of Man: Read Daniel 7:13, Matthew 9:6, 12:40

17. Ancient of Days: Read Daniel 7:9

18. Servant: Read Matthew 12:18

19. King: Read Zechariah 9:9

20. Prince of Peace: Read Isaiah 9:6

21. Bright and Morning Star: Read Revelation 22:16

22. Bread of Life: Read John 6:35

23. The Mighty God: Read Isaiah 9:6

24. Son of David: Read Jeremiah 33:17 and Matthew 20:30

25. Unspeakable Gift: Read 2 Corinthians 9:15

Time Traveling

One of my favorite apps that I use everyday is my timehop app.  I enjoy reliving the photos, memories, and the random thoughts, quotes or retweets I've shared on social media on this date in years past, some going back in time to 6 years ago to the day.  It's always fun to see pictures of how my girls have aged through the years, or recall a Bible verse that spoke to me, or an inspirational quote that encouraged me on that specific date in my past.  I've come to realize this is one of the reasons I remain active and engaged on social media so that I'll have an opportunity to see these posts from my timeline in the future.

Today's timehop was full of activity from the past 6 years on November 15th.  One post in particular prompted me to write this blog post.  Back in the fall of 2013 the latest buzz on facebook was to share 10 personal and interesting facts about yourself on your page.  I enjoyed reading these posts from my friends, and after giving it some days of thought I decided to jump in with my own list:







































      8.  I love spicy food!   Must be the Louisiana-born 
           Texas-raised in me.
      9.  I share a birthday with Elvis (Jan 8), must be why 
           God led me to Memphis, that, or to meet Cindy.
    10.  I'm discovering more and more that Nicole, is just 
           like me, while Taylor is more like Cindy.

A few weeks ago I ran across another timehop post I enjoyed in which I remembered blogging about 2 years ago, Astrodome Memories.  Reading past blog entries such as this reminded me of why I began journaling and was one of the reasons why I started this blog 4 years ago.     

And on the subject of time traveling, last weekend VH1 aired a "Back to the Future" movie marathon.  Our girls had barely even heard of these movies until last month's buzz surrounding "Back to the Future Day" on 10/21/15, so I set the DVR and Cindy and I enjoyed watching the movie with the girls...hard to believe it was 30 years ago when the first Back to the Future movie came out!  

Family fun in Florida

Some of our greatest family memories are made each summer during our much anticipated beach trips to Perdido Key.  Each summer since 2007, we've been blessed with the opportunity to enjoy a week away from home at my brother in-law's condo on the Florida coast.  We usually plan our vacation around the 4th of July, so with this year's holiday falling on a Saturday we spread our vacation over 2 weeks with a Wed-Wed trip 7/1 - 7/8/15.

This year we planned to do a couple of new activities in addition to visits to some of our favorite traditional restaurants such as The Hangout, Lulu's, and Cobalt.  Also, I was looking forward to making a return visit to one of my favorite ballparks - Pensacola Bayfront Stadium, home of the Blue Wahoos, the Reds (AA) minor league team.

The ballpark is situated facing the Pensacola Bay and offers a view of the ocean beyond the outfield which rivals the Giants AT&T Park in SF as the best view in all of baseball.  On our first night there, the girls were more anxious to hang out at the pool than take in a ballgame so I made the short 25 minute drive over to Pensacola solo and arrived just in time for the 630p game.

The next 3 days we enjoyed full days of sun and fun in the pool and the beach, including a visit from Cindy's friend Cissy and her twin 6-yr old boys, Colin and Connor.  Taylor, Nicole and I also enjoyed our daily walk across the street over to Dave's snow cones!  On Sat July 4th, we continued our tradition of having dinner at the Sunset Grille followed by watching the fireworks from our balcony at the Indigo condo.  With rain in the forecast for Sunday, we began our day with Worship on the Water at the Flora-Bama, then to Lulu's in Gulf Shores for lunch and a movie ("Inside Out") and shopping at The Wharf in Orange Beach.

One of the new activities we planned this year was visit Waterville Water and Amusement park.  The girls enjoyed riding the go-carts and the wave pool, but the highlight was the huge water slides.  Taylor and I enjoyed going down the Dune Racer slides (face first on mats); the Great White and Gold Rush slides (in single inner-tubes or 2 and 3 person-tubes); and the really big, high-speed slides: Screamin' Demon, Triple Dog Dare and Jet Stream slides.  Unfortunately, the park wouldn't allow Nicole to wear the swim mask she prefers to wear when swimming so she refused to ride the slides this year - hopefully next year she'll outgrow the need for these goggles!  We saved the other new activity - a sunset cruise on a catamaran for our last night, and we all enjoyed this relaxing 2 hour cruise in the gulf and around the bay.  We'll definitely look forward to including both of these fun activities again next year...now if I could just get the girls interested in doing the zip line tours with me!

Another fun tradition I've enjoyed each year is making a slideshow to capture the memories of our trip.  Here's a link to my youtube page with all the videos from prior years.

And, here's a link to the video from this past year:

Florida 2015 beach trip

Journey into Meditative Prayer

Meditative prayer, or listening to God, has long been a challenge for me.  Whenever I attempt to be still in prayer (“Be still, and know that I am God." ~ Psalm 46:10), my mind jumps at the chance to wander and is often filled with thoughts of what the day may have in store for me.  When this happens the focus of my prayer shifts back to my desires, my concerns, rather than positioning myself to hear from God and to be led by the Holy Spirit.

In my daily quiet time, most of my time is directed towards reading - keeping up with the readings from 3 Bible studies that I'm currently involved in and reading some daily devotionals.  My desire to meet with God is structured around this time I've carved out in my day to awaken early in the morning and hear his voice through these readings, and then before I rush off to the gym or for a quick run, I might journal some thoughts and then close with a short prayer.  Last month, through a number of circumstances, I felt God directing me to focus more on my prayer life, specifically towards meditative prayer.

Over fall break I had an opportunity to visit my parent's church and hear Jim Turley speak on prayer, and in his talk he suggested a book by Richard J. Foster, "Sanctuary of the Soul: Journey Into Meditative Prayer".  This book offered some great guidance on stepping into meditative prayer which I'd like to outline, but I must acknowledge and remind myself that hearing from God is not some kind of mechanical process rather it comes from becoming comfortable in a continuing conversation and ongoing relationship with God.  "Meditative prayer comes from an inner longing but only becomes a holy habit if we stay with it."

The first step is Recollection.  The idea is to let go of all competing distractions until we have become truly present where we are.  Begin with imagining God's presence in the room; release my thoughts, concerns, worries to Him - allow God's great silence to still my noisy heart.

The second step is Beholding the Lord.  This is an inward steady gaze of the heart upon God the divine Creator.  Consider using scripture as a means to quiet the mind; meditate on the scripture - and read it as though God is speaking directly to you; read it not for information but for transformation.  Or instead of reading scripture, listen to scripture - I've found that closing my eyes and listening the audio Bible on my phone or computer (both the NIV and ESV versions) have helped me to feel as though God is speaking the words into my heart.  Another way to Behold the Lord is to gaze into his creation.  Envision nature, all that He has created.  Early in the morning, just before the sunrise, sometimes I will walk to the park and wonder on all of God's creation.  Another way of entering the experience of Beholding the Lord is by means of worship music.  "Reflections" is a program I found on the Daystar network which shows scenic videos in nature from around the world set to worship music.  Often I'll watch one of these music videos first thing in the morning from my DVR in order to position myself to Behold the Lord.  

The third step is an Inward Attentiveness - the prayer of listening.  The word step is a little misleading here as we learn to discern the voice of God by experience.  We know from scripture that Jesus made it clear that his sheep can hear and know his voice (John 10:11-15).  "Graciously we are given a teachable spirit so if we are truly willing and obedient, the word of the Lord will be a light to us. But to receive this guidance and know it is from the Holy Spirit, we need a certain personal relationship with our 'inward Teacher'."  The author recommended the book "Hearing God" by Dallas Willard, what he called, "the finest book on hearing divine guidance", which I'm now reading.

The last part of the book deals with everyday difficulties, such as wandering minds and the fact that we have noisy hearts - so be patient, it takes time to develop a single-hearted concentration.  Distraction is the primary spiritual problem of our day.  God does not cease speaking, but the roaring lion (Satan) fights for our attention.

It's important to remember that we were created for an intimate conversational relationship with God; drawing on the foundation of this truth opens the door to stepping into and experiencing meditative prayer.
"Meditative prayer comes from an inner longing but only becomes a holy habit if we stay with it."

Chasing down all 30 MLB ballparks

Following up on my previous post, another summer tradition I have is visiting MLB ballparks.  Over the past 20 years or so, America's pastime has increasingly become my favorite pastime and a summertime ritual for me has been journeying to major (and minor) league ballparks.  It's an obsession that began in my youth, and it really began to grow when I started traveling more often for work.  Back in the mid-to-late 90's I went to games at Wrigley Field and Fenway Park, and it dawned on me that I had been to roughly half of the major league ballparks.  And after attending the Astros Opening Night of Enron Field in April 2000, I remember thinking to myself that I wanted to visit all of these new ballparks that were opening around the country as well as visit the remaining old ballparks I haven't been to yet.  With plans of children on the horizon I needed to get busy, so over the next 4 summers ('01-'04) I knocked out trips to 16 ballparks completing my journey that would ultimately continue on each summer as new ballparks continued to be built.

My fast-track tour to visit each remaining ballpark kicked in with a vacation to Montreal with Cindy in May 2001.  With rumors of the Expos relocating, we were able to catch the visiting Astros at Olympic Stadium before the Expos began playing home games in Puerto Rico ('03) and later moving to D.C.  My ballpark chasing continued with busy summers in 2002 and 2003 with trips to: Cleveland/Detroit (a combo double-ballpark weekend), Milwaukee, Seattle, and additional combo trips to Kansas City/Minneapolis, Cincinnati/Pittsburgh, Phoenix/Denver, and a vacation beach trip to Tampa-St. Pete with Cindy and new born Taylor.  In 2004, a business trip to Sacramento finally landed me at beautiful PacBell Park in San Francisco (3 years after 9/11 preempted our planned Northern California vacation), and I completed my ballpark tour in July '04 on a vacation trip to Southern California paired with a visit to Petco Park in San Diego.  But with new ballparks under construction at the time (and with many others being planned), I looked forward to continuing my ballpark travels in the years to come but at a more leisurely pace.   

Having visited the new ballparks during their inaugural seasons in St. Louis ('06), Washington DC ('08), New York City -- both new Yankee Stadium and Citi Field ('09), Minneapolis ('10), and Miami ('12), I have now attended games in 41 different MLB ballparks -- all 30 active plus 11 non-active or extinct ballparks.  The 11 extinct ballparks (in order of attendance, and notice the "Stadium" attached to their name as opposed to "Ballpark"):  The Astrodome, Shea Stadium, Jack Murphy Stadium, Veterans Stadium, Atlanta Fulton County Stadium, old Busch Stadium, old Yankee Stadium, Olympic Stadium, The Metrodome, Dolphin Stadium, RFK Stadium.  I look forward to adding on to this list as plans for new ballparks are being discussed in Oakland and Tampa, while also revisiting my favorite ballparks each summer.

I'm not alone in this pursuit of ballparks.  In 2008, I ran across a social media website dedicated to this quest, Ballpark Chasers.  I created my ballpark chaser page and the site is now up to 2,300+ chasers.
A question I get asked all of the time is what is your favorite ballpark?  Ranking ballparks is an ongoing debate that is discussed often among baseball fans.  I came up with my own list with one caveat:  I'm giving Wrigley Field, Fenway Park, and Dodger Stadium a "classics" exemption as it's not fair and impossible to compare them against the newer parks.  It's difficult to sort through the many factors in developing a solid ranking system that most can agree on, so I'll just say one of the key determining factors in my ballpark rankings is the unique features that a ballpark has which give it character; also, the outfield view/skyline is big in my perspective of a particular ballpark.  Here's my ranking:

1. PNC Park, Pittsburgh - most impressive view of downtown skyline bordered by one the three rivers.

2. AT&T Park, San Francisco - fabulous views of SF bay; love the huge glove and Coke bottle behind LF bleachers.

3. Comerica Park, Detroit - underrated view of downtown skyline with many unique features throughout the ballpark including the large tiger statues upon entering and the kids ferris wheel.

4. Minute Maid Park, Houston - of course I'm partial to the Astros, but I really like the train above the drawn-in LF wall with the Crawford boxes and Tal's Hill in CF.

5. Petco Park, San Diego - perfect setting in beautiful downtown SD and the "Park at the Park" beyond RF fence with the sand pit provides the perfect touch to this ballpark.

6. Target Field, Minneapolis - great views from all seating levels and seats seemed closer to the field than in most ballparks; love the Minnie and Paul Twins logo in CF.  

7. Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Baltimore - I visited in its inaugural season ('92) and this park ushered in many of the other retro style parks; built around the existing warehouse beyond LF.

8. Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia - *we're at a point in my rankings where any of the next 10 or so  ballparks could easily be slotted anywhere in the middle; I really liked the outfield pavilion with Ashburn's Alley and the two-tiered bullpen in CF.

9. Nationals Park, Washington DC - not in the best location; the ballpark offers a nice view of the Capitol beyond LF wall but can only be seen from the upper level.

10. Citi Field, New York - was more impressed with the Mets new park over the Yankees, which both opened in '09.  Cool features beyond the outfield including a mini ball field for kids and a dunk tank.

11. Great American Ballpark, Cincinnati - would have preferred to have an outfield view of downtown Cincy (which is behind home plate) than the hardly awe-inspiring view of Northern KY.

12. Coors Field, Denver - wished there were better views of the mountains from all viewpoints in the ballpark; could really only see from upper deck on the first base side.

13. Rangers Ballpark, Arlington - like Texas, this a large ballpark with a unique porch-like seating deck hanging over RF.

14. Marlins Park, Miami - so many cool and unique features and color schemes: the large tropical HR sculpture, The Clevelander bar in LF, aquariums behind home plate and the bobble-head museum.

15. Safeco Field, Seattle - one of the better retractable roof stadiums and on my list for a return visit.

16. Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City - old stadium from the 70's has held up well because it was built only for baseball; love the scoreboard and fountains; need to revisit to see recent outfield renovations.

17. Progressive Field, Cleveland - nice view of downtown but park lacks some unique characteristics.

18. Busch Stadium, St. Louis - one of the better atmospheres in all of MLB, but good tickets are hard to come by; great view of the Arch, but wished the concession level offered an open view of the field.

19. Turner Field, Atlanta - soon to be replaced in 2017 by a ballpark being built in the suburbs.

20. Yankee Stadium, New York - near replica of old Yankee Stadium gave it a legendary feel, but felt like the huge upper deck dwarfed the much smaller lower deck.

21. Miller Park, Milwaukee - the fan-like retractable roof is oddly shaped; I need to make a return visit for a game with the roof open to get a different feel for this ballpark.

22. Chase Field, Phoenix - massive stadium with retractable roof that stays closed most of the time which is a drawback but who doesn't love the pool in the outfield?

23. Angel Stadium - old ballpark that was renovated in the 90's, but lacks a certain charm that could come with a new ballpark in LA (i.e. palm trees, beach and/or Disney theme?)

24. U.S. Cellular Field, Chicago - nothing special here, and no view of downtown Chicago.

25. Rogers Centre (Skydome), Toronto - was cool 25 years ago when it opened with the first retractable roof and attached hotel in the outfield; now it just feels like a dome stadium.

26. Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg - only remaining permanent dome stadium; a new ballpark with ocean views is sorely needed here.

27. O. Co Coliseum, Oakland - haven't been here since '79; the former outfield views of the mountains were replaced by upper deck seating for the Raiders years ago.  The A's fans deserve a new ballpark.