A new journey begins

"Hear my prayer , O Lord; let my cry for help come to you. Do not hide your face from me when I am in distress. Turn your ear to me; when I call, answer me quickly." Psalms 102

"My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken." Psalms 62

These two scriptures describe my feelings over the past several years. I would have times of worry and wondering what to do. Praying to God for help, wisdom, whatever I thought I needed or was feeling. Then God would answer my prayer. Then I would feel stupid for worrying about things when God would take care of them for me. I would then pray for forgiveness for being weak and faithless. I would feel stronger in God's love. I would feel almost invincible. I guess it is really no different from anyone else. The problem for me is, it seemed to be the same thing over and over again. That is tiresome and foolish. One of my dearest friends in the world has a quote he likes to use, (and unfortunately has been directed to me at times.) "How is that working out for you?".....the ruthless and truthful Kyle Wade.

For the past 2 years I have really been stuck in a rut. I have not been enjoying what I do for a living. I had been praying to God for an answer of what to do? I have a little story I want to share with you that I think shows the power of prayer and the power of God.

A week before Christmas I was in Gander Mountain doing some last minute shopping. Besides I just like to go look around in there anyway. I have a good friend who is a manager there and she happened to be working that afternoon. Before I go any further, if you remember, I worked there in the winter of 2008. Becky told me that they were fixing to have a managers position open up after Christmas. We kinda joked about it and said I should apply for the job. One thing led to another and the next thing I knew I was in the store managers office having an interview. (which I already knew him because of working there.) I started a week ago today. I am enjoying it very much. Besides working with kids, the thing I love the most is hunting and fishing. Wouldn't you know it? I am in charge of the fishing and camping departments. (kinda funny I am in charge of camping, with my last name Camp, don't you think?) OK, let me break this down for you.

I believe God put me in position for this job back in the winter of 2008. (planning) I don't think it was by chance I saw Becky before Christmas. (intervention) I also don't think it is a fluke my gut told me to go apply for the job. (Holy Spirit guiding me) Then actually getting the job. (answered prayer)

I learned a long time ago to follow my gut instincts. This was one of those times. I prayed to God about it. I talked to my brother, preacher, and one of our elders at church about it. Prayed some more about it, and when the offer came to either accept or decline the job, I had a peace about what to do. The cool thing about this is I can still do pest control on the side. To what extent is yet to be determined, but I can still do it. (so if you are a client don't go get someone else!!!) I love the way God puts the puzzle together.

I didn't realize this, but it has been a long time since I have been this relaxed and peaceful. (I will feel even better when the first pay check comes. Ha!) I don't know if this little story helps anyone in a similar position or not. If it does then that is great.

In Judges 18, a tribe called the Danites were looking for a place to live. In their quest, they sent out 5 warriors to explore the land. In their journey they came to a priests house and began asking questions. They asked the young Levite priest to "Please inquire of God to learn whether our journey will be successful?" The priest answered them saying," Go in peace. Your journey has the Lord's approval." I find it interesting, he didn't say they would be successful, but he said approved.

I believe God will take care of those who trust and follow him. God never said it would be easy. He never promised no pain. But to have his approval is awesome. My family and I begin a new journey. Another chapter is unfolding before us. Where this takes us is yet to be determined. How long we go with it is up to God. I am excited about the future. I may not agree with Obama about his kind of change....but sometimes change is good.

Later on....

Cutter's final tourney

I just wanted to give everyone the final update on Cutter and his wrestling career. Ha! He wrestled last weekend in Dumas. If you remember, the last tournament he wrestled in, we had to move him up a weight division. If you also remember, he won the thing. Saturday in Dumas was a good day. Cutter wrestled for the championship again. He was wrestling a boy from Liberal Kansas. These two kids are as evenly matched as anyone Cutter wrestled this year. Cut had him down 9-5 in points going into last few seconds in the second round. They tumbled off the mat and as they were getting up, Cutter took a foot right in the eye. Oh man it hurt. We took a timeout to get him gathered and all. Looking back now, I don't think he was really ready to continue. I should have given him more time. By the time the round was over he was behind 10-9. He ended up losing 13-10. He was upset as you can imagine. Mostly because he got hurt. I hate to see my son get beat, but I also understand losing sometimes is good also. Cutter also wrestled a division up in Dumas. He wrestled his weight division in the open category. He was competing against 1st and 2nd graders. This was real tough for him. He got beat 12-0 his first match. Lost 12-7 his second match, and won by forfeit his third match. It was good experience for him. We were able to get him some more mat time. There is a final tournament this weekend, but Cutter decided he was done for the year and didn't want to wrestle. I thought that was a good idea too. Cutter ended up winning 11 matches, and losing 7. Two first place wins, a second, two thirds, a fifth, and a ninth. All in all a pretty good record, considering he only started wrestling in late October.

Cutter and I were having one of our many conversations about very important things the other day. I can't exactly remember what brought this up, but he was wondering something about God. Somehow the conversation ended up me telling him the story about Jacob wrestling with God. He was totally amazed by the story. He finally said he thought that was cool that God wrestles too, like him.

Cutter is now playing basketball. (I think some of the reason he was ready to stop wrestling for a while.) I will have more about basketball later.

Cutter Won!!!

Cutter in action.

Cutter fixing to pin his opponent in the finals.

Getting his hand raised. I never get tired of seeing this.

Here is tornado boy with his 1st place medal. Cutter had to move up a weight division this week. (kid just keeps putting on weight.) He continued his streak of winning matches by pin fall. He won his first match in approximately 10 seconds. His championship match went into the third round. He was ahead on points 9-2 when he was able to pin his opponent. He was very excited as you can tell by the goofy look on his face.

Merry Christmas to all and Happy New Year.

Curt

God's protection

Breezy and I went to Dallas/Fort Worth this weekend for some time away, see some friends, go to a concert, basically some well needed time together. We had an absolute blast. This little story is just about how God had his hand over us, and how he spoke to us.

We got ready and left Monday morning. We were heading out and stopped and got gasoline and some breakfast and were about to get on I35 when I took a left turn and we heard a bad noise. It was something from under the front end of my truck. We pulled over and I looked and didn't see a thing. No fluids leaking, nothing hanging, just looked normal. I just chalked it up to the wet cold that was happening in Fort Worth. We got going and nothing, so I just kind of dismissed it. We travel along until it was time to exit to 287 and head home. In the meantime, I thought I kept hearing a thumping noise. Similar to the sound you hear when you are on a bumpy road. You know the sound. Wendy didn't think so, she thought it was the road. I just figured I was being too sensitive to sound because of the crack I had heard. We continue on home and the sound I thought I was hearing just went away. We get to Wichita Falls and decide to take a restroom break. When we got back into the truck and backed up from the parking space, my truck made the worst grinding sound you can imagine. It was awful. My stomach just sank. We pulled it over again and looked, still nothing. We are now thinking what do we do? Here we are not in our home town, we do not know anyone who lives in Wichita Falls, not good. We decide to drive again to see if the noise will stop like it did last time. At this point we realize something is wrong, but hoping to at least get home, then I could take care of it Tuesday morning. I drive down the access road for a while and no noise, no vibrations, good alignment, so I get back on the highway and off we go. As we drive out of town I happen to notice a Chevy dealer off the highway. We were no more than 3 miles out of town and then all of a sudden, bad noises were coming from the truck. Wendy said turn it around, and for once I did not argue with her. We got turned around and headed back to the dealership. She was having a gut feeling from the truck stop to get it looked at. I was having a gut feeling too. We pulled up to the dealership, told them what was happening, and they took it to look it over. An hour passes and then they come to the waiting room with the verdict. The right hub on my truck, which houses wheel bearings and something else, has a broken seal. They said we will not make it home with the condition it is in. The reason is because the wheel is about to fall off!! What? I have been driving 75 mph on a wheel that is about to fall off? Next they tell us how much it is going to be to repair it. $731 to fix this truck. (donations accepted) They have already checked and there is only one hub in stock. We have no choice but to fix it. I already know I could have gotten this fixed cheaper in Amarillo, but what do you do? We just kind of sit there for a while with our own thoughts, thinking the same thing. If that wheel would have come off while we were traveling 75 mph, we might not be getting home to see our children. In about another hour they have it fixed and we are on our way.

Then we just got to talking about the chain of events. The truck making a different noise that I knew was wrong, seeing the dealership, the truck really making a bad noise right as we drive past the dealership, Wendy's strong gut feeling that we were in danger, the dealership only having one hub in stock, the fact that the dealership was able to get right to the truck and get us on our way. Some would say that is an unbelievable chain of events, but we say it was God watching over us and protecting us.

We just thanked God for keeping us safe, and getting us home to our children. Merry Christmas everyone!

Cutter....again

Here I go again, another blog about Cutter. He wrestled again yesterday. I am amazed at this little kid. He has a drive within him that is passionate, honest, and deep. This tournament... he made it to the championship bout. He had victory by pin fall his first two matches. I have to keep reminding myself he has only wrestled for 5 weeks and is 6 years old. The young boy he faced in the finals is the same boy that pinned Cutter in his first tournament in Lubbock. This kid has pinned everyone he has wrestled so far this year. Amazing is right. I was under the impression when we started this stuff that rookie meant a year or less in experience. That is not exactly accurate. It has more to do with their age. I still do not completely understand it all, how it works, but that is the way it is. Over the last 3 weeks of wrestling we have figured out that this kid has wrestled the 'tot' division for at least one season already, maybe 2. Explains why he is so good. Cutter was really getting nervous about his match. The winner got a trophy, which meant everything to Cutter at that moment in time. The match finally began and Cutter wrestled his heart out. He was almost pinned in the second round. The reason I mention it is because of the way he fought off being pinned. My son is apparently freakishly strong. I have watched other kids get in the same position and not work their way out of it. I certainly have not seen anyone do it to the boy he is wrestling. Somehow, from his back, Cutter was able to keep his shoulder from touching the mat and actually pushed the kid up enough to turn to his stomach. This move he did literally took him 15 seconds to pull off. That is a long time with someone squeezing your neck and laying on you. It was so impressive that all the people around me all were talking about it. His coach completely turned around in his chair and looked at me with a look of utter amazement. Unfortunately, Cutter ended up losing the match....on points. Cutter is the first kid this season who did not get pinned by this boy. And Cutter is also the only kid to go into the 3rd round with this boy. As a matter of fact, Cut is the only kid to go to a 3rd round period with this boy, and he has done it twice.
Cutter did a good job, but was very upset. He just couldn't help but cry. He wanted that trophy so bad. It was at that moment in his life the single biggest disappointment he has ever had. Emily and Wendy were at a basketball scrimmage and were driving across town as fast as they could to see him wrestle and got there right as Cutter and I sit down in the bleachers. As soon as Cutter saw his momma and sister he really lost it. It took him 15 minutes to calm down. He kept saying, "I really wanted that trophy." It was tough being a dad and seeing him so disappointed. I had to finally get in his face and tell him to get over it because he had one more match. Apparently, when you finish second, and you haven't wrestled the kid who got third, there is what is called a challenge match. We were packed up, jackets on, standing in line to get his medal and Coach John came up and told us we weren't done. This next kid is one of the boys who beat Cutter last week. Come to find out this is this boys third season to wrestle tots. Cutter got beat again. He finished 3rd place. Thankfully, Cutter was able to keep his emotions in check this time.
Once we got in the truck to leave, Cutter was still ticked off he did not win the trophy. I just told him to work harder and he will win one soon. Cutter has had 12 matches so far in his career. He is 6-6 and 2. All six wins are by pin fall. He has only been pinned 1 time. He has made two kids cry.
He has his eye on the prize. He will work hard in practice over the next few weeks until we wrestle in a tournament again. I am so proud of him for wanting to continue and work hard. Last night we were watching the video of his matches and I was showing him how to try to avoid being taken down and how to escape better. He wanted to practice those moves right then. So we did. He is determined.
I just thought, what if we all had his determination for whatever it is we do? A lot of great things would get done. I have known many people over my life who aren't willing to take a chance. Who aren't willing to fight back. So many people see failure as a final nail in the coffin. Failure is simply another stepping stone to success in my opinion. You can't have success without failure. There are many great things my dad and mom instilled in me growing up. One of those things was never giving up. Looks like Cutter is learning the same thing, or at least I hope he is.
Cutter may only be 6 years old, but he is paving his way through life learning lessons that will form him into the man he will finally become. These stepping stones he will face in his young life are going to happen. God will be there to guide him through them. I will help him avoid the avoidable, and manage the unavoidable. Losing a wrestling match is so not a big deal, but the path to finally winning a trophy?.....That is huge!!

quick update on 'my girls'

Here is the latest update on Emily and the other girls. All the girls made their respective teams. I am the proudest guy around right now. What a great week for "my girls".

There were 64 girls who tried out at Crockett were I have 6 players. There were 45 who tried out at Bonham were I have 2. Of my 11 players, 9 made the gold team, 1 made silver. My other girl is being home schooled right now. I just couldn't be more excited for them all.

Yesterday, there was a scrimmage between Crockett and Bonham. I walked in just as they were about to tip off. I looked out on the floor and there were 5 Shock players on the floor. (2 for Bonham, 3 for Crockett) 7 total in the game. As a coach, I was just proud as I could be. As a father seeing my own Emily out there starting the game, I just about cried. No one knows what she and I have gone through to get her to this point. The countless hours on the driveway working on her shot, (and one of these days she will start actually shooting in games), hours just talking on what to do in situations. Some of you understand what I am talking about. It was great. She has earned her spot. She is the only girl on the gold team that didn't play volleyball. Emily has taken this challenge head on, and so far is doing awesome. I am so proud of her!

At this point I am going to brag. My girls were easily, no questions about it, the most fundamentally sound players on the floor. It was very obvious to me, watching them play that they knew what they were doing out there. I can't say that for some of the other girls. I can hardly wait for this season, it is going to be fun. I will keep you posted.

Cutter update and buddy.

So many of you have asked that I keep you updated on Cutter and his wrestling. Well here is your latest update. He wrestled again this past weekend. Cutter ended up 5th place out of 10 kids. He won his first match by pin fall in 21 seconds. The second match ended rather quickly. He pinned the kid in 8 seconds. I am not kidding, 8 seconds! His third match was a bit more competitive. This match was to go to the championship bout. The match went all 3 rounds and unfortunately, Cut came out behind 6-4. He kept his emotions in check, but was disappointed he lost. His 4th match was to advance to the 3rd place bout. It was a very good match, but again Cut came up short, lost 8-6. After this match, we had to go outside for a bit and have a good cry. He was really upset about losing that one. His last match was for 5th place. This match was a rematch from last week. If you remember, he lost a match last week 11-7. What I left out of the details last time was it was a girl who beat him. He simply would not engage with her last week. I have taught him not to beat on girls. Very strange having to wrestle girls. When I figured out who he was wrestling, I told him who it was. He just looked at me and said, "I am winning this time." He attacked this little girl this time. He just went ahead and wrestled her hard. This little girl is tough. Make no mistake about it, she knows what she is doing. Cutter had her on points, but got the pin anyway in the 3rd round. He executed a half nelson just darn near perfectly. He locked it in very hard and twisted her over just like Coach John has taught him. When he had her on her back, he squeezed her down just like he is suppose to until he pinned her. He did well. The two boys that beat him got 2nd and 3rd. He was literally 1 to 2 moves away from winning those bouts. The boy who won the tournament is the kid who pinned Cut last week in the 3rd round. Cutter is the only kid so far who has even made it to the third round against this boy. He is doing good, and hey, he didn't get pinned this week.

Ok, I am through talking about Hulk Hogan. I do just want to add one more thing. We all know people who have older children who are good kids. We are so very fortunate to know many people like this. I want to mention one boy who I feel deserves some props. Cutter has a serious man crush on an older kid. Peyton Stafford is his name, he is a 5th grader. He is the son of Joe and Lee Stafford. Let me put the connection down for you. Their daughter Katie Beth plays on my basketball team. Joe is the head wrestling coach at Tascosa. Joe is the one who got us going with this. As you can figure, Peyton wrestles and this weekend, Peyton was wrestling also. Peyton always, and I mean always acknowledges Cutter and gives him genuine attention every time he sees him. It was getting close to Cutters second match and I saw Peyton walking down in front of the bleachers we were sitting on. He was coming down to get Cutter and help him warm up! Understand, Peyton is with some of his buddies. He took the time to keep watching the bout numbers where Cut was wrestling and drop his buddies to come get Cutter and get him ready to wrestle. Stayed right there with me while Cutter did his thing and really gave Cutter a big high five afterward. He really made Cutter feel like a star. Unless Peyton was wrestling or getting ready to, he was right there cheering Cutter on every time. And of course, Cutter wanted to watch his buddy as well. Peyton is a very respectful, kind, genuine kid. I can only pray that Cutter will grow up being like his buddy Peyton. Peyton has know idea the impact he has on Cutter. Peyton is just being who he is, and how he is being raised. I wish every Christian could be that way. Peyton is not trying to be anything but Cutter's friend. It doesn't seem to matter a bit that they are 6 years apart. To most kids Peyton's age (especially boys), it isn't cool giving attention to a little kindergarten kid, but Peyton doesn't seem to care about all that. He is just doing what I think Jesus tells us to do....build relationships through genuine love and care for each other. I wish everyone could have a "Peyton." I am thankful Cutter has the real thing!

live without regrets.

We all have things we get ready for. Be it a long term goal, a short term goal, or somewhere in between. As most of you know, I have been coaching Emily in basketball since she was in the second grade. As the years have gone by the motivation of why she plays ball has changed. It started as something fun to do. A way for her to burn off extra energy. Within the last couple of years, her motivation has turned to playing ball in high school. Her dream is to play for the gold and black of Amarillo High School. A tremendous goal worthy of her effort to achieve. My other girls on the team have similar goals. The brutal truth of it all is not all of them will play varsity high school basketball. Some will play other sports, others will stop playing all together. They will all follow their life path into doing whatever it is they are meant to do. You ask, where am I going with this? Well...here goes.

Do we all have the patience for a long term goal? Today marks the first day of try outs for my girls (except Makaela, she already made the A team at Westover). This is the first time in the history of my relationship with Emily she will be playing ball for someone other than me. It is weird for me to think about sitting on the other side of the court and watching her play as a spectator. This is good for us. She needs someone else to teach her. I need the perspective of watching versus coaching. We both will benefit from this. This morning her Mom took her to practice. Another first for me. When has she ever gone to practice without me? I can't be there to give her a pat on the back or "the look". She is on her own. Does that scare me? No. Am I excited for her? You bet I am. My other girls....Zoe for example. She has never played hoops for anyone other than me. Am I thinking about her today? You better believe I am.

I feel like a mother bird who is letting her babies go into the wild. The girls, me and my Dad have spent so much time together over the last few years working for this one moment in their lives. The time that they go and start on their journey to achieve the goal of playing high school basketball. Everything has a beginning. Today marks that beginning. I sent all my girls a text last night. I told them good luck, play hard, be physical. I told them I loved them and was proud of them. I have been sitting here all morning thinking about what all this means to me. Am I being a bit emotional about it? Yes. I think I have a right to be. Am I making a big deal about it? Probably, but again, I feel like I have a right to.

My goal has always been to help these girls mature. Basketball for me is a great way teach those lessons. Basketball is a game of ups and downs, streaks and stops, endurance and intelligence. My opinion is that a good athlete can play any game, but not every athlete can play basketball. My dad and I always try to have our girls motivated to play. But more importantly, we want to have them prepared for what is to come. Being prepared is the single most important thing to basketball in my opinion. It is the most important thing to life for that matter. That is what I have been thinking about, do I have the girls prepared for what they are about to experience over the next few months. Time will tell. I do get them back mid February when we start our tournament season. So my time with them is not over.

I have been just thinking about something over the last few weeks. This experience with the girls kinda brought a few thoughts together. In our daily lives, are we preparing ourselves for our ultimate goal? Do we live each day like we should? Do we end each day with a regret? I teach my team to play hard and leave nothing on the court. Give it everything they have. Mistakes are going to happen, it is what we do with those mistakes that makes us who we are. How we respond is what matters. Living with regrets is painful, haunting, and sometimes devastating. I have regrets, who doesn't? Be open to what God is telling you. God will never mislead you. God may take you somewhere uncomfortable, but it is where God wants you. How will you feel the next day if you didn't go and you knew that is where God wanted you.

Emily left this morning prepared physically and mentally. She is feeling confident, not cocky, just sure of herself. She knows what to do. She has been preparing herself for this moment. I know my daughter, she will give it all she has, she will leave no regrets. The other girls on the team will play hard. They are prepared. Are we going into today prepared? Will we get to the end of the day and have no regrets? Live without regrets!

later....

By the way....which one is me in the photo above?

Cutter's first wrestling tournament

This past weekend Cutter had another first. He wrestled in his first ever tournament. We got involved in this two weeks ago. The wrestling coach at Tascosa is a friend of mine. He thought Cutter would enjoy wrestling and might have a chance of being pretty good. So we figured why not? Cutter and I went to a practice three Mondays ago and watched. You know, to see if he would like to try it. Of course he wanted to. We came home after watching practice and he wanted to wrestle. We got in the floor and I showed him the moves that they had been working on. Now, before I go any further I must admit I know nothing about wrestling. I wrestled a half season when I was in the eighth grade. That is the extent of my knowledge. The only thing I know is what I am watching at practice. Tuesday night came and Cutter was ready for practice. He just jumped in there and started learning best he could. He loved it. I wasn't sure how he would take being beat on. They practice their moves on each other. Basically, one kid just stands there while another takes them to the ground. Then they will get a half nelson put on them. That is a move where you put one of your arms under a kids armpit and hook it around the neck and drive them with your shoulder until they end up on their back. Trust me, it is not comfortable. Anyway, Cutter was hooked. He had only 4 official practices before last weekend. He and I and his sister Emily have had many more than that. Cutter is considered a rookie. So when he wrestles in these tournaments, he is supposedly wrestling kids his own weight, age, and ability. We get to weigh in Friday night and realize Cutter has been registered in the wrong weight class. They have him in the 50-60 lbs. weight division. He is 49 lbs. Big problem. He could wrestle a kid 10 lbs heavier than him? I am thinking this is not good. But because that is where he was registered, he has to wrestle in that weight class. We got up early and left for Lubbock Saturday morning. When we got there, Cutter had an auto win! In other words, no other kids signed up for that weight division, so he got the automatic win. Great!, but now what? I am thinking I got us all up early on a Saturday to be in Lubbock by 8am and he doesn't get to wrestle? It worked out good. He actually got to wrestle his weight class.

His first match ever in his life was about to begin. Cutter is so excited, but very nervous at the same time. He kept saying on the way to Lubbock that he was nervous, and asking Wendy if she was too. His mom said "a little." That was good for Cutter because he would respond with, "thanks Mom." I think it helped calm him. Back to the match. Cutter walks out on the mat, faces his opponent, shakes his hand and the referee blows his whistle. The next thing I know Cutter is putting moves on this kid like he knew exactly what he was doing. He took the kid down, slipped the half nelson, rolled him over, grabbed the kids neck, gained leverage, and pinned the kid in 30 seconds!!!! I was shocked and impressed all at the same time. His coaches were impressed! One of them didn't even know his name. (but you can bet he does now) Cutter has 2 more matches that he lost. The next kid pinned Cutter with 20 seconds left in the match. This kid was really good and Cutter held his own very well. His last match went the distance and he lost on points 11-7. In the end, Cutter walked out of that gym with a first place medal around his neck. I tried to explain that he got first and third. It didn't matter, he won first place and that is all that mattered to him. He had practice again last night. I think he walked a little taller last night when his coach asked him to lead the team in their warm-ups. The coach who didn't know his name, worked with Cutter all night long. I think he made an impression on these guys.

What did I learn from Cutter this weekend? Alot! Also really nothing I already didn't know about him. He is a competitive, determined, fun going little kid who just rubs off on you in the greatest of ways!!! I thank God every day for my son and the lessons he teaches me. He has 2 more tournaments in the next 2 weekends. I can hardly wait to see him wrestle again. Who knows....the next Brandon Slay??????

God, brake pads, and Cutter

It is so funny to me how God ties things together in life. I should not be surprised. I just have a short story to share with you guys of a lesson my son Cutter taught me. (again!)

I have the privilege of teaching the middle school kids at our church for this quarter. My friend Adrian, who is our youth minister, wanted to do a study on a book called Crazy Love, by a minister from California named Francis Chan. It is a great book. It also comes with a video. It has been a great read and study. Something that came at a great time for me. A great reminder of how big God is. The word "big" just doesn't seem like the right word for God. God is so indescribable. His love is amazing. An over used word I know, but what other word is there? He is so powerful, so holy, so awesome. One of the points in the book is this is God's creation, so why can't he do what he wants? He created this earth for himself. Col.1:16 (check it out). With the rut of life I think we sometimes forget that. We forget God can really do whatever he wants.

A few months ago my brake pads went to squeaking, so I replaced them. I bought what I thought were good brake pads. And for the first week they did a great job, and then not so good. They just started squeaking like crazy. I decided to jack my truck up again and look at the pads. I basically did the brake job again. It worked for about a week and they started squeaking again. At this point, I was beginning to get irritated. I went back to the auto parts store and asked a few questions about what to do. The car dude gave me some pointers, so you guessed it, up goes the truck again, off go the tires again, and I cleaned the brakes, re lubricated the calipers, and put everything back together. Before I continue, I have changed out brake pads alot in the past, and never had this problem. OK, it works for like three days, then starts squeaking again. When I say squeaking, I mean SQUEAKING!!!!!! The embarrassing kind of noise. Like when you pull up to a red light you hope you are the first one there so no-one gives you that "fix your brakes you loser" look. The kind of sound that will make people cover their ears because it is so loud. I go back to the store one last time. Ask them is there anything else I can do? This one guy pulls me over to the side and proceeds to tell me their brake pads are junk. Oh really? Don't have to be Sherlock Holmes to figure that one out. He tells me to go to another auto parts store and get this different kind of brake pad. Ok, I have got to tell you about Cutter at this point. Before I went back to see the Benedict Arnold salesman, I tell Cutter I just do not know what else to do. He is fully aware of my frustration, irritation, and overall disgust with my brake pad situation. He simply told me to pray to God about it. I just said ok, but thinking God isn't going to help with squeaking brake pads. Now, I go and buy new pads, go home and jack up my truck, take off the tires, pull off the brakes and clean and replace and hope for the best. The next day when I picked up Cut from school I told him the brakes were not squeaking anymore. He so matter of fact simply said, "well Dad, I prayed to God to help you, and he did!" So, feeling ashamed my faith wasn't as sure as my sons, I took advantage of the incredible statement he just made to teach my son that you can ask God with help for anything. Like I really needed to tell him that anyway. He was the one who prayed about the problem, not me. Later that day I started thinking about my sons statement. How powerful was his statement. He had no doubt in his mind that God could fix my brakes. In his own simple way, he had taught me two lessons. 1. God can do anything he wants, even fixing brake pads. 2. God is simple. He does not ask very much from us. We are the dopes that make it complicated.

What made me think of this story is the lessons I have been sharing with the middle schoolers about God. His power, love, forgiveness, etc... That is what I meant with my first statement, how God ties life together with lesson after lesson. Cutter made it pretty plain that God can do whatever he wants. Then I start reading a book that is a great reminder of God's power. Is God trying to tell me something? Of course he is. Do I know exactly what it is right now? No, but I will always remember what Cutter taught me. God is bigger than any problem I may have, be it something major or brake pads.

Long time no write....I was looking through some old papers the other night and found something I had written way back in August of 2007. Back in August of 2007 things weren't real good. Things basically were in turmoil and lots of high drama and stress. I wanted to share what I wrote.

August 3, 2007
I have come to realize that blaming others is easier to do than accepting my own short comings, insecurities, and fear. Even if others are making things difficult for me in my marriage, business, friendships, and relationship with God. Because of my arrogance and blindness of my own actions, I have decided to blame instead of seeing that I have lost closeness with God. How can I handle situations or feel good about myself if I am not comfortable with who and what God is? Or what he is able to do? What has happened to my faith? When did I decide to try things on my own again? Do I just have a surface faith and not really believe in my own knowledge and experiences of what God has done for me? It is time to turn back to what I know to be true. It is time to live like I want instead of what I get manipulated into. I have to be who I am, and that might not fit into others plans, but too bad! I am tired of being hurt and feeling helpless. If someone is not good for me, then goodbye. It doesn't matter who it is. It is time to be the man God desires me to be. It is time for me to desire what God wants for me. Otherwise the hell with it all and live however I want. I am not down with that, so it leaves me one option....God's way! No more walking the fence, no more compromising. It is time for a new beginning, no matter how painful it may be.

After I read that, I remembered writing it. I remembered feeling very helpless and frustrated that I couldn't pull it together. I also remember praying hard and asking God to just take control and help me let go of control. That has been 2 years ago. It seems longer.... much longer. So much has happened since then. So much good, many blessings, alot of growth. Everything in my life is good. Marriage is awesome, kids are such an amazing gift, business is recovering and doing well. Life is good. The only thing that I can attribute it all to is God. Those feelings I had when I wrote that in 2007 are gone. No resentment, no harbored anger, nothing. It is like a distant memory, a long ago story that happened to someone else. God is so good.

I guess I felt compelled to share that because as I have learned over life, many people struggle with alot of junk and never tell a soul about it. People are so protective of their stuff. I am not saying vomit everything to everyone. I am just saying always be ready to be open and honest and help someone if you can. I am a firm believer of things happen for a reason. I believe God does two things. One is God will put you in situations to help others. You just have to be ready and open enough to do it. Secondly, God will use your stupid, bad decision making past as a way to make you useful. (see reason number one.)

So, I hope that window into what I shared might help someone with something going on in life. If not, you can rejoice with me about how God still loves us and is always ready to forgive and begin a new you.

oops, I just sent the same picture, check these out.

These three have been together since 2nd grade.
A little sassy.

basketball update for those who care.

Been a while. I've been busy like everyone else. It's a good thing. The last time I sent a blog out "my girls" had just played 5 games in one day. We have since played in three more tournaments. I just wanted to give a quick update on their progress. (as I know some of you may be interested) To date we have played in 5 tournaments. We have made 3 finals appearances. Unfortunately, we have lost 2 of 3. But that is ok, we have lost to two really good teams. The other tourney we got 3rd. Not bad at all. I think the girls have probably collected more hardware this tourney season than we have the last three years combined. (4 medals) I am very proud of them. (as usual).

This last weekend we played with a new team. I had 4 of my regular girls gone. That makes it a little difficult. We were very fortunate to pick up 3 good players and just had a blast. I mean, we got to the final game again. This coming weekend, I have 4 regular players missing again. Lucky for us we have 2 good guest players. It will be fun. Going into it with no true point guard will be interesting. But Katie Beth is up for the challenge and I have all the confidence in the world in her. If there is a girl who can handle the job, it is KB. I get to have an old "Shock" player return this weekend as well. Sam turned into this good volleyball player and decided last summer to give her attention to volleyball. Well, lucky for us, she has the itch to play a little ball, and it worked out for her to play with us this weekend. My other prize recruit, who played last weekend as well, brings an interesting dimension to our team. Beri is like 5'8". I already have Zoe who is 5'9". It is very fun having the twin towers. Beri has a great attitude, fun to be around, good team player. I anticipate having alot of fun this weekend. If practice last night is any indication of what to expect, it will be good.

I will update again later on the girls. I have attached a few pictures of our team. A friend of mine took these pictures for us. We spent an evening taking pictures about 2 weeks ago and had more fun. The girls really thought they were modeling something special. It was an awesome time. Later...

More basketball

Another weekend passes and I have more basketball stories. If you do not care to hear about the girls tournament, now is the time to hit the delete button. Character, desire, competitiveness are words that clearly describes my girls this weekend. We started playing games at 9 in the morning. We finished our 5th game of the day at 9:15 that night. We won our first game and had an hour and a half rest before playing again. Our next game was one for the ages. We were matched up against a very good team from Lubbock. They jumped us pretty good. Got out to a 8-0 lead before we scored. I called a timeout and "challenged" my team to dig deep and find "it" and get back in the game. They walked out and scored 2 quick baskets. The score ended up being 20-9 at half time. This was the first game for the Lubbock team and our second. The girls were already looking tired. The second half started and the girls climbed back to a within 6 pretty quick. The girls battled with them best they could. Here is were it gets crazy awesome. We are down 12 points with barely over 2 minutes to go. Kaiygen, one of my guards hits a 3 from the top. (down 9). Somehow we get the ball back. This whole time I am watching the clock, because I still have 1 timeout left. The girls come down, make a few passes and Kaiygen hits another 3. (we are down 6 with 45 seconds left.) I use my last time out. I tell the girls to "D" up like mad crazed dogs. We get the ball back again and this time Mercedez nails a 3. (we are down 3 with like 30 seconds left). The girls are running around as hard as they can, giving it everything and we get the ball back, and you guessed it...Mercedez hits another 3. (game tied). There are 12 seconds left. Lubbock calls a timeout. I tell the girls, get the ball back, get it down low for 2. That is all we need. I do not remember how, but the girls got the ball and with 4.7 seconds left Zoe gets fouled in the act of shooting and she gets 2 free shots. Before I go any further....Zoe is our best free throw shooter. She steps up and misses both shots. I cannot remember the last time she went O for 2. Overtime. We have the lead and wouldn't you know it, with 2 seconds left in overtime they score to tie it again. Double overtime, we lose by 1. It was one of the most exciting games I have been apart of in a long time and probably the most exciting to this point for my girls. I can't remember how long we had before our next game, but it didn't seem long enough. Won our next game by 10 and then had to play a good team from Plainview. We just struggled through the entire game, much like we had the game before, and never led until a minute or so left in the game. Somehow the girls had reached down again for a 3rd time. We won that game by 1 point. We are now basically in the final four. The last game they were so tired. I had one girl who was sick to her stomach, one with a bad finger, another with a bad knee, and another with a hurt and sore toe. Five games in one day is brutal. We started off ok, but quickly showed fatigue. Led the entire game until the end, and lost. We lost 2 games by a combined total of 3 points. That is hard to take. I think I would rather get destroyed than to barely lose. Losing like that is harder, especially when victory was right there. I had all day Sunday to think about what my little team had done. Six months ago this same very team would have responded very differently. They would have given up when they got down and tired. Maturity, desire, confidence are the things that have changed. These girls believe in each other and themselves now. How many times in our lives have we been down and given up as a child or adult for that matter. Then everyone has "that" story where we decided to give God a try and it somehow worked out for us. Sometimes that story comes at a young age, sometimes as an adult. Either way it gave us the confidence in Christ we maybe lacked. Taught us we are tougher than we think. It makes us discover that through Christ we can do anything. For me, being an athlete all my life it started with experiences like this. Maybe wanting to give up in a game, but continuing to play on and then coming up out of it victorious! Learning lessons like this are a great part of growing up, and something we always continually learn at all ages, either by experiencing first hand or watching others. Experience is the best teacher. Maturity, confidence, desire...all things my team, myself and my Dad (who helps me coach), the girls families, and friends all learned and gained this weekend. We may have lost a couple of close games, but we gained so much more. Till next time.

Just a quick Yee-Haw!!!!

I just gotta brag!!! "My girls" played this weekend in Panhandle. They won the tournament. In the final game they all scored at least 4 points or more. That is cool. This is the picture of the tourney champs. Later...

25 things you may not know about me.

A few months ago there was a deal going around on facebook called the '25 things about me', or '25 things I wish you knew about me' or something like that. I started thinking about that this evening for some weird reason. I thought to myself, "I bet there are at least 10 things out of 25 that most people do not know about me." I thought this would be fun to list some things....so here goes.

1. I have the most high pressured name in the history of mankind. My full name is Curtis Lynn. Curtis after my grandfather, who preached for 60 years. My grandfather was a very well known man around these parts. He baptized 1000's, married and buried way more than can ever be counted. He was awesome!!! Lynn, after my uncle, who is equally as well known as my grandfather. The pressure is killing me! Not really, it is really an honor to be named after such awesome, Godly men.

2. One of my all time favorite musical artists is Barry Manilow. I know, I know....

3. This one here, very few people even know about. In May 2007, I quit dipping snuff cold turkey. This has been very hard. It was my crutch for many, many years (24 years to be exact). This is the 5th time I tried quitting, but I think I got it licked this time. I will admit though, after a big ol' meal, the craving sometimes hits me. I just get some gum, pray to God to make it pass and before long it is gone. I know alot of men who have had the same addiction and stopped. It is really a very nasty habit.

4. I like country music.

5. I like rock-n-roll and going to concerts with my wife.

6. I date three fantastic ladies all the time. My wife and two daughters.

7. I use to be a shoe salesman at JC Penneys. (20 years ago)

8. I played college basketball. Well, I was on a college team. Didn't get to play much.

9. I wish everyone knew how hilarious my younger brother Russell is. The stuff he comes up with sometimes is priceless.

10. There was a time back in my sophmore year of college when I seriously considered changing my major to biblical studies. I thought I wanted to be a minister like my grandfather. (Probably a good thing I didn't). Can you imagine me a minister?

11. I really, really, really enjoy hunting. Getting out in the field with my brother and cousin Jon, killin' stuff....awesome. Watching my dog do his thing is truly a thing of beauty. That dog beats all I ever saw. Doing what he was born to do is totally fun.

12. I have a tattoo on my right arm. Maybe a new one on my back soon.

13. I have always wanted to be a teacher and coach.

14. I am currently enrolled in college to make #13 a reality. Just 28 more hours after this semester and I am done baby!!!!

15. I have gone to the same church for 25 years.

16. I was valedictorian of my graduating class. Never mind the fact that there were only 4 of us and the other 3 were dumb rears. But hey, I got scholarship money for it.

17. My freshman year of football, I got knocked out cold, came to in the ambulance, and had one major headache. They call the injury I had a neck stinger. Set out one week and played the rest of the season. WHAT AN IDIOT!!!! No doubt the cause of my occasional migraines.

18. When I was 22 years old I broke my leg bad playing basketball. Seriously...the leg broke in half. It hurt. My oldest daughter (who was 1 year old at the time) and I started to walk at the same time.

19. I have been sued. (and lost)

20. Virginia Stubbs is my oldest friend. We have been going to church together since birth. That is no exaggeration. Back in the day we went to church at Bell Avenue CofC. We went to school together at Sam Houston Jr. High. Then when I thought I was done with this woman she got in my family. She married my cousin Todd. I can't get away from this woman. Lucky for me.

21. My wife dated or went on a date with everyone of my older cousins. But I was the lucky one.

22. My wife and I have known each other for 23 years, been married for 18 of that. (seems eternally longer) just kidding!!!

23. I really like to fish also. Do not get to fish as much as I would like, but still love it just the same. My Poppa was a great fisherman and I got to fish with him some. I wish I could have spent more time with him, but the times I had with him were fantastic. Now my poppa was a character. He is a whole other story. One day I will share with you his story. Pretty cool.

24. When I was a 19 year old moron (freshman year), me and a bunch of guys from college got into huge trouble. I sorta lost my basketball scholarship for the semester. And I sorta was in bigger trouble with my Dad. I have really put him through some crap over the years and he still keeps on loving me. Kinda reminds me of an example in the bible about a guy who loved like that. Thanks Dad.

25. Last but not least, I really miss getting to talk to my grandmother. Sylvia Camp, the greatest woman I have ever known. (and I know some incredible women: my wife, my mom)My first best friend. When I was a little guy, I would always sit with grandmother at church, and then stand beside her and greet everyone as they left the building. The things I learned from her are priceless treasures to my heart. Grandmother was always wanting to learn more. The older I got the more I realized this and the more she would share with me. I remember going over to the house to just see what she was up to and talk. She loved serving God and others. She based her entire life to serving and helping my granddad with his ministries. After grandmother retired she wrote 4 books, wrote a number of songs, and just kept on trying to gain more knowledge. She was awesome!!!

So...did you learn something new about me? I figure maybe you have. This was fun for me to think about this stuff, hope it was for you. Now get back to work and stop reading this garbage.

till next time....

Experiencing God

My family and I did something a little different yesterday. We decided to go visit a church that is different from what we are used to. Wendy has a friend that invited us to come with her and her kids to Trinity Fellowship. For those who do not know, Trinity just finished a huge building project. They have an up to date facility. The sanctuary is unreal. It seats like maybe 5000 people? It is awesome, let me just say that. When we first got there, I was totally blown away by the size, look, feel of the whole place. The praise team was playing. Drums, guitars, keyboards...all things I like, but not use to seeing and hearing in a church. This ol' Church of Christ boy has experienced instrumental music before in a church, but this was different. It wasn't so loud you couldn't hear yourself think. It was honestly at a perfect volume level. Now, I am going to have to confess something. You old Church of Christ people better sit down for this. I really enjoy the instruments in worship. Always have. I have been at some places were the music was too loud and it for sure took away from the music and praise. This Sunday it did not. It actually was a nice addition to the whole worship experience. I may get run out of town for admitting that...but it is just the way it is. I actually hate that I have to write this next sentence down, but here goes. I am in no way saying we should add instruments to a Church of Christ service. There it is. I love the traditions that our brothers left us, and have no intention of trying to change them. The point of this blog is this. We all talked about our experience in the car going to eat and while we ate. We were all stunned by the magnitude of the morning. But in the end, we all had the same conclusion. We do not know if it was the fact we didn't know anyone there to be distracted by, or the difference of worship that had our attention, or what it was, but we all had an emotional experience with our God. The same God we worship every Sunday morning, every day. The same God that Moses worshipped, that Daniel prayed to, that Paul fiercely followed. The people at Trinity were very friendly, and open. We enjoyed our experience. We will be back to our church next week, with a new look on our worship. Not in a bad way, understand, in this way. We will be more focused, not looking to see if so and so is sitting in their pew. We will be there looking to glorify the one who takes care of us and loves us unconditionally. I guess sometimes it just takes a little different jolt to get us out of our comfort zone and a new experience to get us to realize that. We love our brothers and sisters at Southwest, and I for one am excited about next week walking in to church to worship my God with my friends and family.
To Doyle....I can't remember if you get this or not. This is for you. This blog is not in any way, shape or form a bash on our worship time at church. Our time at church is bar none the best. It was really just a funk we had gotten into. Love you bro.
Till next time......

KISS

Jenny dressed in my hard hat and orange vest that I use at the rail road. (craziest one I got)

Jenny, Cutter, Zoe and Katie Beth

Makaela, Kaiygen, Mercedez, Zoe

Shelby, Sabrina, Emily

"my girls"

I have written about "my girls" before. For those who have been with me a while, you know I am talking about the basketball team I coach. The girls are 6th graders, 11-12 year olds. Yep, that is right, the beginning of things I do not understand, and never will. This blog has nothing to do with that, because I wouldn't know what to say anyway. We just finished another basketball league. This is the first of our 'season'. From here we play tournaments for the rest of the spring and early summer. This is the first time we have ever started a new season with the same team we finished with the last season with. This particular group of girls are such a joy to be around. We started all this when Emily was in second grade. I have 3 of those original girls still playing ball for me. One more I have had since 3rd grade. It is funny how it all evolves, how you get a team together and such. The reason I write about them is this. We were really having a hard time getting going this league. Things were just not clicking like I thought they should. I had introduced new and somewhat complicated things at them. Our first game we got smoked, second game lost to a team we should not have lost to. To make a long story short, I was frustrated and so were the girls. So...we just went to the KISS method. (Keep It Simple Stupid) I just asked the girls what they felt the most comfortable with as far as defense, offense, press breaker goes. I was getting caught up in trying to create a team that really couldn't and/or didn't feel comfortable with what I was trying to get them to do. They told me what they liked playing and we spent all our time for the last 3 weeks practicing the same thing over and over and over. Repetition was the name of the game for us. For the rest of the league, we didn't win all the games we played, but the games we lost were close and very competitive. We ended up getting beat in the semi-finals to the eventual champion of the league. It was really cool seeing the improvement, confidence, and self-esteem of the girls grow. With just a few plays to know, they all played with tremendous confidence. Players who had not been sure of themselves with the plays and their own ability, were making plays, good decisions, and having fun doing it. The girls were getting compliments from many of the opposing teams coaches and parents. They made huge strides. When we get our offense going a little better, we are going to be hard to beat. We are all excited about the next tournament. Thursday night we as a team went to watch the championship game and then went to get snow cones. I have been fortunate to have teams that get along pretty good. This particular group I was not sure about. Chemistry has been a problem in the past. Even up to this league. But for whatever reason, it just started clicking with them half way through the league. There is a genuine feeling of friendship between them. I thought it was there but hadn't really seen it until Thursday night. Believe me...these girls like each other. Well our little team outing was awesome. I had half of the girls come up to me and tell me how much fun they had. How they really wanted to do it again. It was very obvious they were having a good time. I just set back and laughed at them and with them. It was great!!! The pictures you see are of our snow cone stop. It just got me thinking as I was sitting there watching them. We weren't having much fun at the first of this league, were not playing very good, just were not having much success. Once we decided to go to the KISS method, things just got better and better, with everything. What is it about simplicity? Anything we do in life that remains simple goes so much easier. Make it all complicated and things just get crazy and screwed up. I have learned that lesson one to many times. You would think that this is a lesson that would stick. How many of us complicate our lives with extra stuff? The clutter of life? The drama of living? Life is hard enough some times to fill it with things we don't have to. The lesson my girls taught me over this league is awesome. Simplicity works. Just look at our Lord and Savior. He lived a very simple life. He did not give us a bunch of rules and regulations to live by because I believe he wanted us to live simple lives. He has made it very simple for us. "Love one another." ...lets see...I think that about covers it. Thanks to "my girls" for helping me remember simplicity is always the best way. Till next time....

Interesting how life is. We all have the things in our world that really seem to be a burden, an irritation, an inconvenience. Sometimes it can be work related, or money related, our kids, or spouse, whatever. Most of the time if we take a moment and step back we realize it is not really that big of deal. There are times when things happen to us are that really self inflicted and then we wonder why life is so unfair. Or we try to get revenge somehow, because we have been wronged and we want justification. (that never works...ever). I really consider myself one of the luckiest guys in the world. Let me explain this. As I have said in earlier blogs, my wife, kids family and friends are the most important things to me. My son Cutter is 5 years old now. He attends a preschool 3 afternoons a week. Here is what I mean by lucky. I get to spend a great deal of time with my son. More time than most fathers do. He goes with me on those mornings to work. I get 4 solid hours with my son before school. Sometimes he talks me into cutting class and he spends the whole day with me. I have clients that get a little ticked if I show up to work at their house and my "little helper" is not with me. Cutter calls going to an appointment a 'mission'. We always have a game going. (we are superheros fighting bad guys, or army men fighting evil, or cowboys fighting indians.) Each mission is a different scenario. It is rather complicated at times. But it comes from a 5 year old mind and I am apart of it. I LOVE IT!!! We just finished a week long story. It started out as a story about a man who lives on a mountain. After I got it started it was his turn. He then told a lot of the story, then it was my turn, then his turn. You get the idea. It just evolved. By weeks end, this story involved his cousins, Ethan, Matson, and Greyson. His buddies Baylor, Brock and Caleb. The story was full of great adventure, courage, bravery, and heroism. We have started a new one today. We have fought and won against zombies, so far. Who knows what tomorrow will hold.

I had the privilege to take Emily on a date tonight after church. We talked about just stuff. More importantly, we talked about what she wanted to talk about. I get to coach her in basketball. I have done so since she was in the 2nd grade, she is now in the 6th. She and I get to spend a good amount of time together.

My oldest, Lizzy is 17, and a junior in high school. It is funny, alot of my friends who have kids this age seem to complain that their kids are never home, or don't want to talk. I am so thankful that Lizzy is not this way. She likes being home, she still talks to us. I still get to take her on dates. I am truly blessed.

Today was a weird day. A little over a year ago my wife had a very close friend, Julie, die of brain cancer. It was sudden, quick, and sad. It was unfair that such a beautiful person was taken from her daughter. The question why was asked alot over that time. Today another friend we know lost his life to cancer. Rick was only 43 years old. Two children now cannot hug their dad. A wife cannot kiss her husband goodnight again. Is this fair? Of course not, it sucks big time. It just got me thinking that most of the things in this world are not worth worrying about. Rick cannot spend time with his son again. He cannot be there when his daughter gets married. He can't grow old with his wife. How lucky are we that we still have our children to hold, play with, and talk to? That is why I feel like a very lucky and blessed guy. God does not promise us tomorrow, so we better live in the now with our relationships. Just a thought I had to remind us all that it could be taken away that fast. Is the stuff at the office that important? Can't certain things wait so you can spend time with your kids? I am lucky and I know it! Till next time......

I hit the wrong button. I wasn't finished. That proves how long it has been since I have blogged. I did not really have anything to say this time. Other than to say hello, and I am going to try to start writing again. Talk at you all later.

It has been 10 months since my last entry. So much has happened in that time. So much in fact I am not even going to attempt to try to catch you up. If I happen to mention something and you are not sure what I am talking about, and you want to know, then ask me, otherwise you can guess. Whatever. It seems like lately all I hear about is Facebook. Do any of you people have a "facebook"? My dear wife has one. I use hers to see what is going on with some of my friends. The neatest thing about it though is the child hood friends we have found. As an example...Saturday night a bunch of us old Sam Houston Rangers met together for a mini reunion. It was all because of this "facebook". I got to see a friend of mine I have not seen or heard from since 1985. We were friends since kindergarten and he moved away after our freshman year in high school. It was awesome. There were some others who came to the mini reunion who did not come to our 20 year high school reunion. We all decided to try and do this every 6 months. What a neat thing. I feel I am really lucky to live in the same town that I grew up in.

second chances

I have had something on my mind for quite some time. Who of us is perfect? Who of us have all the right answers? The answer to those questions is easy, none of us. What boggles my mind are two simple questions. Why do we act like we have the answers? Why do we act like we are better than others?

I wish I knew. I wish I understood why some people act like they are better than someone else. What purpose does that fill? Is it a poor self-esteem issue? Why do they have to belittle someone to feel important? Do they like to keep someone down to feel better about themselves? Why can't they forgive?

I have to admit, it really makes me sick. I learned this lesson back in college. I shared a hallway with some skater dudes. These cats dyed their hair jet black, dressed weird, listened to weird music. Another guy on the hall was a complete geek. Really, a total pocket protector wearing nerd. Then there was the bible major, the guitar rocker, three out of control basketball players (that would be the group I was in), and one really quiet, strange guy. It didn't take long for all of us to really appreciate what the other was about. I actually liked all those dudes. Even the skater guys. We had a blast in that hallway for that spring semester. My point is this. If I would not have given these guys a chance, I would have missed out knowing some really neat people.

What if someone makes a bad mistake, and they are held to that mistake the rest of their lives? What if they are not given that second chance? Or even a third chance? Why is it we are quick to stamp someones mistakes all over them and not give them a chance? Even worse, why can't we forgive? We could really be missing out on a changed life. By not giving someone a second chance we could miss out on something amazing. There is nothing more awesome than someone who has turned their life over to God. It is so cool to hear people tell of their experience of having God in their lives for the first time, or reconnecting with him. I have had enough mistakes to fill an ocean full. I am so thankful that people were willing to give me a second chance. Thankful that when I asked for their forgiveness, they really forgave me and totally gave me another chance.

What about those who don't forgive, or give second chances? What if they are even justified in doing so? Does it make it right? I say no. I believe everyone deserves a second chance, or third, or fourth. What if our Lord just wrote us off after we messed up? What if he didn't believe in second chances? I think of the passage from James 4:12 "There is only one law-giver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you- who are you to judge your neighbor?" Matthew 7:1-2 "Do not judge or you to will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."

Mark 12:31, "...Love your neighbor as yourself." Wouldn't you want forgiveness from someone? Wouldn't you want a second chance? Wouldn't you want the opportunity to make things right and prove you are a changed person? In 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 it tells what love is. In that description of love it says 'love keeps no record of wrongs.' As you read to verse 13, it simply states "these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."

What are we being told? I believe we are being told to forgive, love our neighbor, and give whoever it my be another chance. We cannot control how others will react to us. There will be some who will not offer forgiveness. Some who will condemn others for eternity. Maybe it is arrogance, insecurity, pride that won't let someone let it go. I don't know. I just know this. God works in mysterious ways and through broken people. If you don't take that step and give someone a chance you may be missing out on one of the greatest stories of all time. A story of the power of God turning a broken situation into one of success and triumph. This has just been an observation of mine for a few years. I have watched this happen. I have personally seen people pick and choose who they forgive, who they give second chances to. It really irritates me, but like I said earlier, you can't control what people are going to do. You just might have to prove it by your actions. Actions are stronger than words. You have to get the trust back you lost, but you also have to be willing to take that chance and trust them. Until next time.....

Cutter's example.

My son Cutter had his first ever soccer game Tuesday night. He is playing indoor in a league with kindergarten age kids. After I have thought about his experience, talked with him about it, something about it made a connection with the class I am attending on Sunday mornings and a conversation I had with a very good friend Tuesday night.

What amazed me about Cutter Tuesday evening was he had never played a soccer game. He has never seen a soccer game. He had absolutely no experience with what he was doing. He just wants to play soccer. There are kids on his team and the other teams that have played at least one, maybe two seasons of soccer. They have a clue of what to do. The only thing Cutter had before the game was his sister Emily telling him what to do when he is on the field.

It made me think of the Christians in Acts. They were selling their possessions, sharing their lives with one another, sharing their 'things'. Why? Because they wanted something. They wanted something that they couldn't see. It was something that made them feel special, wanted, accepted. It took great faith to give up their stuff and step into something they had never really experienced. It was new. There was no blue print for it.

I think what if I was put into that situation. Asked to give up what you are secure in to get something else. To change your way of life. Change the way you view people, things, situations. There always has to be a first. To make a change, there has to be that first day of a new beginning. The act of faith it took for those first people in Acts is amazing to me.

As Cutter took the field he had the chance to watch the others play first. He got to see how it was suppose to be done. His first effort was really good. He got out there and ran as hard as he could. He pretty much shadowed the ball the entire first half. Where we were, he could not hear us. In a sense, he was out there trying to figure it out on his own. Just his observation of watching the others do it. In the second half, he got a number of touches on the ball. Ran with more of a purpose. Acted like he was really starting to understand what to do.

I just can't help but think the new Christians were really looking at the first group and thinking, they seem o-kay. It is still a huge leap of faith even seeing others doing well in the life you wish to have. It seems though that the decision might be easier to make if you can talk to someone who has made a similar choice. I get a mental picture of the Christians in Acts sharing their lives with each other, holding each other accountable, learning from each other and really being happy, feeling secure, confident.

Cutter was gaining experience literally by the minute, and you could see it happening. He started to gain in confidence. The more he relied on his sisters words, his quick past experience, he realized how and what to do. When the ball got kicked away from him, he just kept on running after it. It didn't shake his confidence. His experience had already taught him to keep on running, because eventually he would get to the ball.

Why is it we seem to lose that lesson as we get older? In my experience, when I let the spirit lead me (confidence), and trust in God (experience), everything works out. It may not go the way I thought it would, but the end result is always good. (I get the ball) But when I refuse to listen, try it on my own, I bomb out. I wish I had a faith like the first Christians. I wish I had a faith like my son. He went to play soccer and had no clue what to do. He went out there to do what his sister told him to do. He knew what she said, and believed her to be correct in her instruction. He walked away from his game saying, "I did good Dad." Not being arrogant, but confident.

The innocent lives of children. So much to be learned from them. One of these days I'll tell Cut what a great lesson he taught me. Now I have to gain that confidence and experience in God that tells me, "follow and listen to me." Later....

Cutter's first public prayer

Two Sunday's ago, I was teaching Children's Worship. For those who don't know what I am talking about, it is a time for 4 year old through Kindergarten kids to go to a worship designed for them during regular worship. I went early to get things prepared and Cutter went with me. As I am looking at stuff I ask Cutter if he would like to lead the prayer? He answered yes. He then told me he better do a practice prayer. So we did. He was ready to go. The time came when the kids starting coming in. I looked at Cutter and he seemed calm and ready for his big debut. After all the kids were there, we started worship. We sang songs about Jesus, faith, love, and "Socking it to the Devil"! The momentum was heading right into our time to pray. The time finally came and I looked down at Cutter and said, "Ready?" He just got up and took his place on the stage at the child sized pulpit. I told everyone to be quiet, bow their heads and fold their hands. It was time. Cutter looked out at everyone and forgot his prayer. He looked at me with a look of 'what do I do'? As I often have to do with the little guys who lead prayers, I jumped into "whisper in their ear mode" and we began. I told Cutter to speak up so everyone could hear. It was a good thing we practiced, because I knew what he wanted to say. So I just repeated his prayer to him in his ear and he spoke out clearly. When Cutter was finished and he said his A-men, there was this thunderous applause from the side. His sisters were so into him leading the prayer and proud, they just started clapping their hands. Then they realized what they did. Of course it was funny and we all had a laugh over it. The proud big sisters! As if Cutter doesn't already get every ones attention when he wants something, he gets applause for a prayer. It will be nothing short of a miracle if he doesn't grow up rotten. I just thought this was a funny story I wanted to share. In case you were wondering what Cutter prayed for? He thanked God for his friends, Mom and Dad, his sisters, and his new video game! At least he has his priorities straight! The simplicity of children.....it is refreshing. Later...

Happy New Year

I hope everyone has a great year in 2008. Later...

friendship

The last time I sent out a blog was Oct. 13, the day our dear friend Julie went into hospice care. She went home to heaven Friday evening, Nov. 2, and the funeral was Nov.5. It has been a roller coaster of emotion for 6 weeks. It seemed like Julie held on for a long time, but actually, it was only 5 weeks from the time she knew it was bad. Life really isn't fair. It was such a harsh reminder again that we are not promised tomorrow. You just never know when it is going to be your time. Thankfully we have Christ to look forward to. I don't understand how people without a faith could go on after something like this. We (faithful followers) still question in our hearts why, but can accept it because we realize this world is just something we pass through. For those who do not believe in God's promise of heaven, how incredibly difficult some kind of tragedy like this would be for them to accept. God is good! How thankful I am to my parents and grandparents for such a heritage. The real reason I am writing this tonight is to share a short story about friendship. To give just a little background, Audrey (Julie's daughter)plays on our basketball team. I have written about my girls a few times. As you may remember, 6 of these girls have played together since 2nd grade, and the rest for a year or more. 4 of them go to church together and 3 have known each other since birth. These girls get along real good and really seem to enjoy being together. I have been keeping everyone on the team posted about Julie because there was genuine concern. My heart was really touched when I saw Audrey's teammates at the funeral with their parents. To my knowledge, none of the girls were forced to be there. My little team doesn't win every game. We don't have the best players in town on our team. We most definitely do not have the best coach. But there is one thing that I believe we have better than any team in the league. Friendship and respect for each other. Case in point...the first weekend Julie was unable to come to our games these girls yelled her name every time we broke huddle. Not my idea by the way. The next week at practice the girls wanted to sit down and talk about Julie, because they were confused and needed that time to try to figure it out. So I stopped practice and we talked about it. These little girls always play hard, even if we are getting pounded. When we win they display good sportsmanship. When we lose they keep their heads up and always shake the other girls hands. (Unlike some of the other teams we have faced) These little girls are full of character. An obvious trait of their parents. I realize these girls are 10 and 11 years old, but there is a lesson in this. (I also realize they are closing in on middle school, and something very ugly happens to middle school girls. They turn into these mean, nasty creatures that hunger for being mean to their very best friends. I've seen it and it is unbelievable.) But back to my original thought. These sweet girls came to a funeral for a teammate who just lost her momma. They might not really understand what that means, but they know enough to know they stick together through thick and thin. I can guarantee when we all get together after Christmas to start practicing again nothing will be said about it. There won't be a bunch a hugging and crying. The girls will just pick up were they left off the last time we played and continue to get better. But Audrey will know one thing forever. These girls are her friends, and they care. I was able to talk to Audrey for about one minute at the graveside service and asked her if she saw some of her teammates. Her face lit up as she told me who she saw, then I filled her in on who else was there and she smiled and got goofy like she does. I believe God puts people around us for a reason. Some for a life time and some for a season. Friendship is something that should be cherished and not abused or taken advantage of. I have learned from my little girls what friendship should look like. It is pure, effortless, unspoken. Audrey will not forget her teammates were there for her, and they didn't even say a thing. They just showed up. I really love these little girls. This is just another reason why. I hope you find this as cool as I did. At the end of this blog there is a link to the home page of my blog. If you like you can click on it and check out other blogs I have written. Until next time I feel inspired!!

Hello. This is Curt. I know some of you are thinking what is this? Welcome to my blog. I have added a number of new people to my blog site. So, those who are new, you will get this occasionally. I don't send blogs very often. I don't just do it to send and say something. Because honestly.....I really do not have that much to say. I do not do it to get responses, although, if you want to respond you can. I do it more for me. I send them when I think something needs to be said. As many of you know Wendy and I have a very good friend who is dieing from a brain tumor. It is the type that is the most aggressive kind. Our friend is Julie Sutterfield. The tumor is inoperable and treatment is pointless. They could have done some treatment, but it was a decision by Julie to not go through with it because it was a quality of life deal. This has been going on for over three weeks now. And as I type this, Julie is in hospice care. I am hoping to get to see her today. Julie and Wendy have been good friends for 10 years or so. They have helped each other through a divorce, family tragedies, family deaths, and other junk. But, this blog isn't about Julie....it is about my wife and a small gift she gave to Julie's daughter Audrey. Thursday I had gone to the civic center to get 4 tickets for the Casting Crowns concert that night. Wendy, Lizzy, Sparky, and myself were going. (Leaving Cutter with Mom and Dad. Did you really think I would take tornado boy to a christian concert? Please!! Sparky....this is Emily for those who do not know. I'll explain later) We had basketball practice that night and the plan was for me and Spark to meet Breezy and Liz there at the concert. Wendy had gone to see Jules at hospice (the day she went in) and called me to say Audrey was coming to practice. (I wasn't expecting her to) They might be a little late because Audrey was hungry and needed something to eat. In a few more minutes Wendy called again and said she and Audrey were talking about the concert. Audrey said her mom and her were planning to go but her mom wasn't able to get the tickets. Wendy decided then and there to give her ticket up so Audrey could go with us. I was like really? We had our practice and then it was time to go. The concert was good, Sparky and Audrey had a blast being there together. Audrey just smiled the whole time with that beautiful grin she has. The gift my wife gave her was not that big. It wasn't done for others to see. Wendy did it because it was the right thing to do in her mind. She did it because she loves Audrey. I can promise you Wendy would have done that if Julie wasn't sick and dieing. My wife did not do it so she would look good to others. She could care less. My wife was kind to a little girl who is fixing to lose everything she has ever known. My wife taught my girls what being unselfish looks like, without even saying a word. My wife has shown compassion, understanding, and loyalty to a friend. Wendy has shown alot of us what being a Christ follower looks like without even saying a word. You know the old saying....Actions speak louder than words!!! I just sat back thursday night at the concert looking at my girls (including Audrey), and I realized what has been going on around me. Realized what I have just shared with you about my wife. Now, it will really hack Wendy off that I am making a big deal about this, because that is not what she wants. So, if you see her, just give her a pat on the back. And say a little a prayer for Audrey.