upward & inward

Today is the day which has been set aside by our nation to give thanks.  Organized declarations of thanksgiving have been a part of cultures for thousands of years.  So, we gather to give thanks to God, not to celebrate a simple pilgrim meal that happened long ago.  Although not the first leader to do so, Abraham Lincoln, our 16th president, made a proclamation of Thanksgiving in 1863.  After describing the "bounties" of harvest, new frontiers, and natural resources of a country still struggling in a time of war, the President goes on to say, [These] are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who ...

" Randy passed away tonight." That’s the first line of an email I didn’t want to read. As I write this, I’m starting my first day of a 2 week mission in Uganda. My heart breaks that I’m unable to attend the celebration of his life, saying farewell, and comforting those that mean so much to my friend: his bride, his boys, his parents, family, and friends. But, God is not surprised. Somehow, in the complex sovereignty that only He can manage, I’m supposed to be here and not there. Often, when I called him over the phone, Randy would answer in a falsetto “Helloo?”. I still answer the phone that way occasionally and bring a smile to the caller. He was my “brudda of anudda mudda” and we would remind ourselves of that nearly each time we would see each other. When he and I would sing together, I felt I could sing better just because it was us singing. Randy included me. He encouraged me to play guitar, sing, and lead. For more than a few years, when we were on the PEAK Worship t...

I have said to many this year that I haven't had to schedule my sprinklers to come on at all because it's been so wet this year. Really, I've only manually run the sprinklers maybe 8 times total this season. During the late summer and early fall, as the temps were more reasonable and we could open our windows at night, sometimes I heard a neighbor's sprinklers come on at 4AM. Each time I heard this I wondered why he would saturate his lawn further when we've received so much rain. Well, this morning, I had to go to the church because a fire alarm went off and the firemen needed someone responsible for the property to come on site and reset the fire alarm and a breaker. There was, thank God!, no fire. False alarm. However, the real mystery unraveled when I returned home. As I pulled up, it appeared that my driveway was wet. It was a clear night - so, no rain. I initially thought my neighbor's sprinklers were on, but there was no way that his sprinkler could hav...

I am privileged and blessed to have an accountability partner who is willing to speak the blunt truth to me with the love of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Knowing that I needed such a partner as I arrived in Wichita, I slowly realized that accountability is not bounded by time zones and locations. And, there are few people I trust to hold and take me to account more than my buddy Guy. Guy and I have known each other nearly 13 years after meeting and working together at HP in the OpenView software business. He mentored me as a new manager and we both saw some exciting and tough times during the dot.com boom and hey-days of the late 90s and early 2000s. We have run (literally) 100s of miles together talking, laughing, releasing stress, and found ourselves running faster and faster as our focus and zeal in the conversation drove us. He's one of the few men in this world I can truly call a friend. We agreed to have regular conversations over the phone and, as we began, it's be...

Last week, April 28th, my buddy Greg Capsel turned over another "click" on his odometer (I'll let him tell you how many clicks that adds up to be...:). Happy Birthday, Senor Greg.