The Domesticated Male

I can't find the telephone booth to change into Superman. I've watched all the hero movies and read all the Bible stories how I should be able to jump small buildings with a single leap with God. I can tackle and defeat anything with Jesus.... but you know what? I still have moments of smallness. I think its unfortunate that when we come into a relationship with Christ there is a belief path that pushes the idea that if we have God we can do anything ourselves. The scripture that states 'I can do all things' often states 'through Christ who strengthens me' but we often take the first portion without leaning on the second. We don't have to be Superman. God is the Superman. We are Clark Kent. We are fallible, insecure, inadequate... human. We don't have to have it all together. Through Christ we are made new and are strengthened. Allow yourself to be vulnerable! Allow yourself to believe that you don't have it all together. The Clark Kents and Pete...

I reviewed the set list and I get a little excited every time I see myself leading a song. I was equally excited that the song our worship Pastor chose for me was a new song. As I usually do I began reviewing and rehearsing the song and listening to the other songs scheduled. It wasn't long in that the songs took on a life of their own.They were more than melodies and harmonies and swells and dynamics. The words were alive and ministering to me. It's hard sometimes as a worship team member to not become rote in our service. We get the set list and rehearse and only look for the right key or how well the music sounds or how good the vocals sound. At times its an inner struggle to remember that the songs we sing aren't just songs. These songs are being presented at a time when people are vulnerable. In a worship setting the congregation or audience aren't just there to hear good music. Honestly they can get that on the radio or by CD. In a worship setting they are there...

     After scouring several best of 2013 book lists I have created my primary reading list for 2014. Now I am not a super fast reader so I don't want to set myself up for failure but I have a goal of finishing ... most of these books. Each of these books are linked to a review: 1. The Golem and The Jinni by Helene Wecker. 2. The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer. 3. Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. 4. The Good Nurse by Charles Graeber. 5. From Scratch: Inside the Food Network by Allen Salkin. 6. The Goldfinch by Donna Tartts. 7. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. 8. David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell. 9. The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach. 10. Love Anthony by Lisa Genova. 11. John Lennon: The Life by Philip Norman. 12. Lost in Shangri-la by Mitchell Zuckoff. 13. Innocent Blood : Book 2 in the Order of the Sanguines Series by James Rollins and Rebecca Cantrell. 14. The Wolf Gift by Anne Rice.      What has been great is that with...

Anticipation is building! All the votes have been cast. The Bus is about to move. The scales are calculating loss. It's the BIG REVEAL!!! How many reality shows have you watched where the finale is a hyped crescendo of energy where some contestant or worthy person or family is receiving some type of award? I watch several and it's always so awesome to see the celebration afterward. Most of the time there has been a back story that over the season or episode has been expounded and explained why this particular person is worthy of such honor. Our hearts are full of joy for the winner and we want to stand and cheer with them and often we the viewers will cry with them when we see their reward and the thankfulness they exhibit. Do you know this is how our lives are too! Our back story may be different from others but we each have stories of disappointment and disaster. When things just didn't go according to our 'life plan'. When due to some reason life seems ...

Saturday morning.... ah. Sleeping late feels so good... OMG I was able to sleep late. Where's the patter of little feet at 7-7:30 in the morning. Where's the rustle from the monitor that I know is impending doom of a little girl full of energy ready to rouse her mother and I from bed on this weekend morning when I use to be able to sleep late.... But I did sleep late! I was able to sleep until 8:30 and it felt great! Lexi and I get up and found Claudia had gotten up and turned on her TV and was watching cartoons and laying on her couch in the play room (i.e. guest bedroom). She turned 4 this past weekend and this year has seen such growth. She went from potty training and pull ups at night to completely using the potty with no assistance... except the occasional 'come and wipe me' and no accidents in bed. She went from wanting us to cloth her to clothing herself and having her own rudimentary sense of style. She now remarks whether she wants to wear certain clothes ...

We are doing it again! Our office is going through another exhaustive implementation of yet another computer system. On board this year we have several computer system projects in our que lined up for implementation. By the end of 2012 we will be more streamlined, more efficient, and more effective. I am all for technology making our processes and procedures better so don't think that I am knocking the usage of technology. What I am saying is that in the process of becoming 'MORE' we have diminished what it means to be in Human Resources. Now a person can go from an applicant to an employee without stepping foot into the Human Resources Office. In our effort to make processes more open we have literally in many cases closed off the Human Resources office from view. The only reason many see for coming in Human Resources is negative in nature. They need to file a claim of some sort or they have some documentation that must be hand delivered for an action to occur. I am a huge...

I remember the first time I saw the WWII memorial in Washington. What a massive structure. Each piece of it was a representation of some significance. Walking around I couldn't help but think of the impact the War had on my family, and the country. There is such a great sense of pride in knowing we were a part of something much bigger than the United States. I love watching movies about WWII, Saving Private Ryan, Pacific series, any Holocaust movie. It pulls at my heart to see the sacrifice we made as a nation during that period in history. I think sometimes we over-glamorize the era to a degree. It was a period of great pride but also of great loss and innocence. A period of reckoning for many Americans about the fallibility of who we are as individuals and the greatness of being self-sacrificing for the greater good. I look back at that time with a sense of Awe of what that generation accomplished. My grandfather was a part of that generation. He was very rough ar...