Second Chances...

Sorry it has been so long since I blogged, got tied up in life.
We had a situation this week that I thought was very interesting.
Our daughter was born with congenital heart disease and a major heart defect that required surgury at 8 days old. She has had numerous heart treatments over the years including a pacemaker at 11 years old. She just this week received a new pacemaker and is looking forward to the upgrade for the next six years or so.
So during this week it got me to thinking, if she had been born in the 1940's, she would have died before we left the hospital. There was no surgical option back then for her condition. If you are interested google "transposition of the great vessels" as it is a long narative to describe it.
Born in the 1950's? No, same result.
But back in 1963 a new procedure was perfected that gave hope to those born with this condition. The "Mustard" procedure enabled a patient to have a somewhat normal life, but the resulting problems created in the heart usually contributed to a heart attack and death by the time the patient reached their 20's. So if my daughter had been born when I was, circa 1968, she might graduate high school but college was a reach. Sports activities, no way. Basic life, barely.
But she was born in the early 1990's when a new procedure allowed her deformity to be corrected. The Jatene procedure was now being used which gave a better opportunity for life long turn. Because of some of the defects in her heart, a pacemaker was needed to regulate her heartbeat. Without that pacer she would not be able to lead an active and healthy life. She will turn 17 in a few days, plays sports, cheerleads and does everything a normal 17 year old does other than being able to go through a metal detector without setting it off.
She was given a second chance at life through medical procedures and break throughs before she was even born. She was released from the hospital on Thursday after receiving her new pacer and we came home for a time...
The call came at 1:30AM, one of our Pastor's children had ran his car head on into a tree. He was being taken to the hospital via ambulance when his father called me. We made it to the hospital about the time the patient was returning from a CT scan which showed no issues to his brain or neck. After looking at the pictures of his totalled car (they were pretty bad) and hearing the nurse say he was a "lucky boy" I told him it was not luck but that GOD was looking out for him. To confirm my statement, a EMT came in who had seen the car and said, he was indeed lucky as they had seen cars with less damage and the driver had not been so lucky. Again I made my statement about he was watched over. I do believe he received a second chance. He could have very well died in that accident. They were wearing seatbelts, an invention that many years ago has saved many a life but without them I am not sure he would be here today. He received a second chance. Cars today are made with crumple zones that protect the occupants, without those he might not be here today. He received a second chance on technological break throughs that came many years prior today. That is why he also has received a second chance at life.
The startling difference is my daughter understands the gift of life she has. She tells us when we go to the hospital that every time she is thankful for the second chance on life she received through break throughs that happened even before she was born. She even mentioned it yesterday at the hospital telling her nurse that she lives a normal and healthy life and how blessed and thankful she is for a second chance in life.
So what brings me to my point. The young man last night, I do not think he understands the blessing he has received. He still feels he is lucky, but luck does not change one's outlook on life; Being granted a second chance does. I hope that one day and one day soon he realizes just how blessed he is over being lucky and is thankful for a second chance.

The hard parts...

Being a good leader is not all fun and games, there are a lot of hard times that do come with it. As a leader you have to not only deal with your problems but deal with the problems that those you lead have as well.
As a leader you have to be able to be both an encourager and a motivator, a pusher and a holder, a helper and a hard nose, a discipleler and a disciplinarian, and a teacher and a taskmaster.
It is a fine line to walk sometimes as you lead people into areas of their lives that they have never gone to. There is the constant fear of the unknown, the uncomfortableness of new surroundings and the smell of failure lingers all around. But as the leader we have to instill confidence in our followers. We have to hold their hands until they get acclimated to their new surroundings and we have to kick them in the pants sometimes to get them to jump out of the airplane and trust that their chute will work so they can enjoy the ride down.
So if you are a follower, pray for you leader, that he or she will be able to become the person you might need at that very moment to get you to the new level in life you need to be.
And if you are a leader, pray that the great leader will help you as you endeavor on this quest.

Airport meanderings...

In my secular job there is a lot of travel involved. Some of it to nice locals like Orlando, Hawaii and the mountains of Denver. Other times the locals are like Dallas in August, or Buffalo in December. Sometimes I am looking forward to meeting clients and getting out of the office a few days, other times I dread having to leave the family and travel.
So I was in a couple airports the other day and I got to thinking about the expressions on our faces. I saw a wide range of expressions on people's faces as I waited for a flight. I saw the harried look of a Mom with three young children trying to get everything through the security checkpoint. I am not sure if she would have looked so harried had the business traveler (not me) that was behind her had a different look on his face than the one he wore. He looked severerly upset, not sure if it was because he was behind her or he was going to miss his flight or if he had just had a bad meeting, but his body language and his face told everyone to back off or I might bite your head off! Thankfully they made it through security without a tussle.
As I was watching others I saw a cute old couple walking down the aisle looking for their gate. They had to be in their 80s and they were walking arm in arm down the middle of this bustling airport, in no big hurry with big smiles on their faces seemingly without a care in the world. I watched them walk past and actually turned to watch them turn the corner because it was just too cute.
I saw people with smiles, people with frowns, people with the "don't bother me" looks, people with the "I'm disinterested" looks and people who kept their heads down and did not look at anyone.
So I got to thinking, as a Christian we should be the most smilingest, happiest and upbeat people in the world. That doesn't mean everything is rosey everyday, we have our ups and downs, but we have someone to lean on. So next time you feel that frown coming on, anger rising up, relax and smile a bit, you never know who is watching...

Outdated...

Do you ever feel outdated?
I am shopping for computers, my associate needs a new one as he is working on the Frankenstein right now that I pieced together out of old deceased carcasses. My daughter is also shopping for a laptop for college so I have been doing my research. And to my dismay, I am finding that doing research on computers is a huge waste of time, because by the time that unit gets to me it will already be outdated. They are improving computers at warp speed it seems.
I was told one time that you should measure computers in ten year cycles. That means if your computer is 2 years old, it is in real life almost 20 years old. Some of our computers would be centurians as I keep them around a long time...
So my thought for today is this, how long has it been since you upgraded yourself? What do I mean. Well you can take a computer, put new RAM in it and it runs better. Put in a new hardrive and it will contain much more. Put in a new processor and it runs faster. So what have you done to upgrade your life?
What I have found is if you do not maintain your computer it will slowly fill with junk and not be as effective as it once was. It will also start to break down without maintanance and routine upgrades. But just as we should be looking to upgrade our computers, we fail to look to upgrade our lives.
How do you upgrade? Well you pick something that you would like to add and you do it. It might be dropping ten pounds, it might be running a marathon, or a triathlon. It might be playing catch wtih the kids, or going swimming or buying some new clothes from this decade.
It might be taking a cooking class, or some other kind of education that you can apply to your life. Whatever it might be, spend some time looking to upgrade your life, you might be amazed at the results...

Swimming with the sharks...

I have never understood why people would want to swim with something that is big enough to eat you?
I swim with the sharks and aligators everyday trying to stay ahead of the projects I am working on. Here are a couple of good ideas to keep you from getting bit.
1) Keep all apendages INSIDE the vehicle at all times...
When you are swimming with the sharks and aligators trying to fight off deadlines and timelines, keep everything close to hand. You spend way too much time going too and fro trying to do too much you will find all of your time wasted in transit.
2) Watch your back...
Always look behind you so you can see what you finished and what you have not finished. For it is that one item that you left undone that will sneak up and bite you in the backside.
3) Use your head...
To many times when we are just merely tying to survive we loose our head and panic. Use the brain the good Lord blessed you with to get yourself out of the situation you find yourself in. Panic leads to chaos and chaos to death. But most times those that think their way through a situation will live to fight another day.
4) Just keep swimming...
If you try hard enough, you CAN out swim a shark or an alligator. But you have to be extremely motivated...
5) Don't worry about the sharks or aligators without teeth...
Too many times I find myself fighting off an aligator or a shark to find out later they did not have any teeth. I wasted all that effort on an advesary that looked big and bad but really had no bite. Mark the dangerous ones and fight them first, they have the worse bite...
6) And have fun...
My grandfather used to say, show me a man who loves what he does and I will show you a man who has never worked a day in his life...
Be Blessed!

Planning...

I am really struggling with something in my life right now. It is the art of planning.
Yes planning is indeed an artform. Just as someone might stare in awe at a Rembrandt or a Van Gogh I stare in awe of people who are good at planning. You know those people, the ones with every day and every minute planned out for their whole lives. I in many ways admire them, they know what they will be doing three weeks, four hours and fifteen minutes from now. But I also feel sorry for them as their lives have been enslaved by their planner.
I am somewhere stuck in the middle. Have a certain amount of grasp on my planner, but too many times do not access it to check what I have going on when I make new plans.
But just as in awe as I am with those who have the art of planning down, I also stand dumbfounded at those who don't seem to have any idea what planning is all about. Some people just expect things to fall into place at the last minute without any preperation or planning. Are they nuts? I have been known to get into something and at the last minute realize something was amiss, but to not plan at all and hope it works out? That is nuts!!
One of my board members once said, "fail to plan, plan to fail" and it has become a mantra for me. So for those of you out there with planning issues, start small and plan out just today, you might be amazed at all that you get done...

Hey, watch this...

Those three words have cost so many people so much pain over the years. So in thinking back I have listed my Top Ten "Hey, watch this" moments in my life.
10) Was with my brother riding bikes on day when I said, "Hey, watch this" and tried to stand up on the seat. I still can't figure out why the boys bikes have that straight bar and the girls bikes have that angled bar, it seems backwards. It REALLY seemed backwards then.
9) Was again with my brothers when we found some bottles and gasoline. A few minutes and a ripped up T shirt later I held a lighter in my hand and said, "Hey, watch this" right before I set the entire backyard on fire.
8) Was with a couple of buddies doing donuts in our cars one time when I decided to engage the emergency brake on my Mercury Bobcat (AKA Ford Pinto), I screamed out, "Hey, watch this" as I revved the motor, got a good run and yanked on the hand brake. After the fifth revolution and a bar ditch quickly approaching I was spared any further injury or car damage when I hit a dry patch of asphalt and came to quick stop. It was almost a disaster.
7) I was showing off to some opposing cheerleaders who were checking me and my fellow teamates out when I told one of teamates, "Hey watch this" as I received the ball in the layup line and attempted a one handed dunk. Unfortunately the ball hit the side of the rim effectively blocking my dunk attempt. Unwilling to give up I persisted trying to get the ball THROUGH the rim now instead of over it and found myself almost perpendicular to the floor as gravity took hold. I bounced up pretty fast after the crash; nothing hurt but my pride and my backside.
6) "Hey watch this" was the last words I said while trying to water ski on one ski. Oh and I forgot to let go of the rope till I was ten feet underwater. They never did figure out if my "watch this" was for the skiing or the diving.
5) "Hey watch this" was what I said before I took a bow and a target arrow and shot them straight up into the air one time. Silly me; I forgot that what goes up must eventually come back down. While scrambing for cover the thought occured to me that I might just have accomplished something no one else had ever done, shot themselves with a bow and arrow. It was a narrow miss.
4) I was riding a BMX bike through a make shift trail one time when I decided to jump a small ravine. Pumping my legs furiously I called to my friends, "hey watch this" as I approached the crest of the ridge. As I hit the bank of the ramp, my left foot came off the pedal in mid pump causing me to pull not only to the left but to decrease in speed as well. Instead of soaring majesticly over the ravine, I hit a tree to the left side of the ramp and landed IN the ravine, not on my bike.
3)I remember saying "Hey watch this" once while playing with an electric fence (yeah I know, country kids). So I was touching right next to one of the conductors on a fence post and apparently there was just enough charge leaking into the conductor that it made the hair on my head stand on end. With my 1970's bowl cut it was a really funny looking thing. I did it about three times when I saw some of my family come around the barn, and you guessed it, I ran to the connector, said "Hey watch this" and wham! Next thing I remember is someone shaking me like a rag doll and throwing me to the ground. It was the wrong connector...
2) I was playing with some friends one day when we decided to play stuntman. Stuntman is a game where you make up and do your own stunts. There were a lot of "hey watch this" that day with most ending rather badly. But I had this great idea to run along the top of a concrete wall and jump off the end into a tree and climb down. It was going really well till my left foot slipped off the wall and I fell into a rose bush in the neighbors backyard where their mean dog lived. I don't remember saying "Hey watch this" but I am sure I must have at least thought it.
1) And my greatest "Hey watch this" moment? Swinging on a wild vine in the woods. We had swung on that vine the year earlier after we cut it off with a machete and had a great time swinging out over the 20 foot drop off of the ravine. I remember seeing it the next year and remembering all the fun we had on it. Running to it first I cried out to my friends, "hey watch this" as I pulled it back, took a run and swung. It went well for the first five feet but I started to hear this cracking above me and I felt myself falling a bit but I continued out to the apex of my swing when I heard the snap that spelled doom for my return trip. I had cuts and bruises but no broken bones when they finally fished me out of the ravine. My grandfather asked me if I had thought that after cutting that vine off at the ground if it would still be somewhat alive a year later. I told him no, all I could think about was how impressed my friends would be after I said, "Hey watch this!"

The Power of the tongue, and the ears...

The Bible warns us about the power of the tongue, it says it works all kind of evil, is untameable and on and on. We have heard it a hundred times. But what about the power of what we hear?
We recently had a situation where someone said something and it was taken in the wrong context. It got a lot of people worked up and questioning the person's character. I just hate it when that happens.
I had a situation not long ago where someone accused me of saying something that was not good. They went around town telling people what I had said, using it out of context of course. I was not shocked or even surprised that this person had done that, their character is well known and they love to stir it up. What really got me was the people who know me coming up to me and telling me what they had heard what I had said and that THEY HAD BELIEVED IT!
We need to not just guard our tongues that we not allow them to run rampant, but we need to guard our ears and not just hear what is being said but take in all the context around it.
If you hear that someone has said something, first evaluate what was relayed to you. Does it meet the character test of the person who said it? If not it is probably not truth. Does it sound like something that person would say? If not it is probably again not truth. And then thirdly if it is something that is causing a problem with you, go to the person who is bing accused and find out for yourself what was said. You might find yourself in an awkward situation but it sure beats finding out that you misinterpreted something and caused harm to a relationship.

The POWER of PRAYER...

Many believe that prayer is ineffective today. Many believe that GOD has turned a deaf ear and a blind eye to this world and that we are on our own. Many believe that GOD has ceased to exist. And yet many believe the exact opposites than what is listed above. Let me share in the power of prayer.
My nephew was diagnosed ten days ago with Leukemia. He has been a healthy and happy ten year old and then all of the sudden he is sick with cancer. So our church goes into prayer mode. So he gets diagnosed and goes in for chemotherapy, one of the side effects of chemo is it dirties the blood up so bad that dialysis becomes necessary for most patients. His parents called and said his blood levels were within a point of having to go on dialysis. This was early evening, and the call went out to pray. They kept testing it until the next morning when it had dropped nearly three points and the doctors decided dialysis would not be needed. Then after his chemo treatments started he did not want to eat. So we prayed again that he would regain his appetite. The next morning he woke up and told his mom and dad that he was hungry. He wanted pancakes, custard and beef jerky!! His appetite soon started to return and he became more active. Then the other day they reported that he was still pretty tired and to pray that he would regain his strength so he could go home. So we prayed again. And yesterday I am happy to report that he got to go home. Although he still has a long process to go yet, we are praying for a complete recovery. And I believe that those prayers will be answered as well.

Fireworks are over...

Each year our church does a fundraiser in which we sell fireworks to our community. For the last four years we have operated a tent on our church grounds. It is a great time for all of our people to mingle with the community we are here to serve. The great part is it allows us to connect with our neighbors of the community and provide an answer to a need in our small community. The bad part is it is seven non stop days of fireworks. So this year we were approached with the opportunity to man a different tent in another town as a fundraiser. We opperate the tent in our community as an outreach and we get paid a little for that service, but this other tent, well that is another story. This one was a HIGH traffic tent and we were doing it mainly for the money. We had problem after problem thrown at us but my staff of volunteers did a great job making both tents a success. After the final packs were loaded back up on the trailer to go to the warehouse for storage every one seemed to breathe a sigh of relief that it was over. Physically I am glad it is over as my body is still lagging from lack of sleep. But spiritually, I am somewhat saddened that those quality hours we got to sit around and visit are over. That the people who loved to serve won't be bringing by lunches and dinners and snacks for those that were working. All in all through all the hard work, when we look back we get to see the blessings that were there for us.

Addicted much?

Addictions are something that most Americans associate with drugs, alcohol or something really bad in life. But I have found that addictions rule most of our lives. No I am not saying that everyone is a crack head or an alcoholic or something like that. But I would say that we all have addictions in our lives.
I know I do.
"hi, my name is Pat and I am an addict"... "Hi Pat..."
I am addicted to many things, so in full diclosure I am naming them off in order of need.
1) Coffee - I am a coffee addict. I found myself the other day ordering coffee at 7PM. That is a like a drug user mainlining heroin or something. Only old people drink coffee that late, or addicted coffeeaholics. Of course I was eating breakfast (its just not for mornings anymore you know) and it seemed resonable, but I felt the prying eyes of my boothmates staring at me and I could feel their inperceptable head shaking as they thought, "that is so sad".
2) Technology - I am a technology addict. The other night I could not get connected to the internet to find out what was happening. Wireless was down, I did not have a cord to plug into a wall outlet and my Crackberry wasn't working as a modem. I finally in a fit of rage turned all of it off, and then tried again to get it to connect. Yep I am addicted to technology. If the solar flare everyone keeps hinting about really does happen and we loose all of our technological marvels, I will probably just curl up and cry for a day or two...as I try again and again to log onto the web.
3) Radio - When I am in the car I have to have the radio on. Driving without sounds is like, well not like driving. Without the radio you hear the thump thumps of the stereo next to you and you get jeleous. Why does he have a stereo and I don't? You only hear the sounds of the engine, the road noise, the wind noise. You mind starts to wander and you think things you never thought before. Like do those people know they look rediculous playing air guitar and drums behind the wheel as they lip sync to their favorite songs coming out of their radio. Reality suddenly settled in when I realized that I was once one of them. Banging on my stearing wheel with my hands in a desperate attempt to play the drums. Bobbing my head to the sounds of the beat, singing at the top of my lungs.
Well maybe one of my additions I will try to adress this week. First I will get my coffee and boot up the computer before I switch off the Ipod, one thing at a time...