Today is a typical Saturday morning for me, wake up before the crack of dawn, play online, watch movies and my wife sleeping, and then around 8:30 get up to take meds, make coffee and have breakfast...I know...I need to get a real life:)

As I was checking my blog I noticed the number of blogs I have written over the past few years and realized how little I have written in the last 3 years and how much I have missed writing. For me writing is theraputic, it allows me to say what I'm thinking, erase it and start over, or leave it and live with it. It gives my permission to be creative and step outside of my own box...and I choose how safe I want to be or how fearless. In blogging one is able to find themselves, reveal themselves, and share themselves...you just need to determine what you want to be and how you want to be seen.

During the past few years that I haven't been blogging I feel like I've lost some of me, that the creative side of me has diminished. I'm determined to change that and to rediscover me...the inner me!

Recently I wrote a book, as I've well advertised and anyone reading this should get a copy of:) One of the things I mention is that many people have simply quit dreaming, our lives get so busy and we become so consumed in living them that we don't dream about the future, or even the present for that matter. Langston Hughes said, "A man without a dream is a like a bird with a broken wing, He cannot fly."

Dreams are what men are made of. You can't create the moment your life changes, but you can dream about it and move toward it. You can walk out the necessary steps to bring into that time when everything changes. So why not start dreaming again, see stuff on the inside and let it work its way outside?

I'm dreaming of a new season...of new life and fresh creativity. I'm dreaming of better health and of a future filled with life and surprises...good stuff...even some not so good stuff...it comes with life you know. What I also know is that even with not so good stuff, God is always thinking of us, and His thoughts toward us are good and hopeful and of a great future!

What are you dreaming about?

During the Fall of 2010 I began to seek the Lord for direction for the upcoming New Year. This is something I do every year, nothing new, just a process I've come to appreciate. As I listened for the voice of the Lord I heard the Holy Spirit speak two words into my spirit: "Live Largely!"

That sounded strange as I considered the position our world is now in, financial crisis, wars and catastrophic events taking place...how could I tell people who can't afford to fill their gas tanks to live largely? It wasn't so much that God was asking me to preach a message of financial prosperity, though I firmly believe that God will bless and prosper our giving...it was that God was asking me to tell people to stretch from the inside out! Beginning the first Sunday of January I began to teach through the 54th chapter of Isaiah, week after week, line after line, I challenged my congregation to get out of the box, and to live largely.

It then became my turn, I was challenged to turn this series of messages into a book. So I sat down and began to write, it seemed that my laptop was attached to my lap, and my fingers were on fire.

The fruit of this simple word from the Lord is a new book that will soon be released. I believe that you and I can live largely, that we can experience abundant life...today! It's not a life without struggle, nor does it ensure finances beyond your wildest dreams. What living largely does promise is the release of who and what God has always intended for you to be...it challenges you to dream big, to see God in a huge way and to see your life expanded!

I hope you'll check it out!

Moments, Memories, and Momentum

The three M's that create both wonder and worry in my life. As the father of two absolutely fantastic daughters, one of which now lives 16 hours from me, I love the moments I have with my girls. Our oldest daughter was an only child until she was almost 8 years old, we've done a lot of things, been a lot of places, and seen a lot of things together. The arrival of a little sister changed everything, I also have to admit that during the early years of our second daughter I was so busy doing the work of the Lord...sitting at the office, or off preaching some where, that I missed some of the baby's early stuff and too many of the eldest important moments. Over the years I've not only regretted it, but apologized for it and determined not to do it again.

Our lives changed last year when we shipped our oldest daughter off to Florida to attend school. Not only was it the hardest thing we've ever done, it changed the dynamics of my relationship with my little one. I now take her to school, pick her up, and spend a few hours after school with her as we await her mothers arrival home from work. It's been an exciting journey, words can't explain the feeling I get when I see her coming around the corner, when she puts her hand in mine as we walk, and as she begins to tell me about her day.

Last Spring I had the opportunity for the two of us to go to Williamsburg, VA to check out the historical sites and to visit Busch Gardens. It was absolutely amazing!

Life is about special moments that create memories that become the momentum for progressing. These times in our lives, whether they be with a child, a spouse, a friend, or even in our spiritual walk, become catalyst, the propel us into new adventures and often, new seasons of our lives.

I miss my older daughter Kaitlin, I check her Face Book daily, usually just to see her face, look forward to her calls or a text, love it when she calls me Daddy...it's Dad normally, and especially when she's aggravated at me. But I remember bringing her home, picking her up from her first day of kindergarten, her first flight, her high school graduation, and now am making new memories with her...we go to Starbucks, drink coffee together, laugh and realize how much alike we are, she doesn't hold my hand...but she does hold my heart!

Last year I had a reality check, I had a heart attack and almost died...life means quite a bit more to me today and I am determined to live largely, to not miss the moments, to make memories, and to ride the wave of momentum as we venture into new places in life!