"Hello, it's me!"

Today we live in a society that is infatuated with the cell phone. It has become a common place event to hear a cell phone go off in restaurants, stores, movie theatres and yes even in worship services. I wonder what we would do if the next time our cell phones ring, it was God on the other end? That would be a life changing experience to say the least!

God may not call us via our cell phones, but God does call everyone. It seems like today that most people think that the only persons God calls are pastors and nothing could be further from the truth. GOD DOES CALL EVERYONE! The problem we have is that we don't take time out to "hear" God call us.

We live in a society where we are bombarded with messages and sounds every minute that we are awake. If it is not music, it is the television...or yes even people calling our cell phones. We never take the time out to just "listen." Scripture tells us that we are to "be still for I am God." I believe that for us to understand what God wants us to do or what path we are to take we need to get somewhere that is quiet.

I am convinced that somewhere in your life you have experienced the presence of God. May be it was after a major event in your life, where you said afterwards, "I made it through by the grace of God" and you meant it! Find a place where you feel completely removed from the outside interferences and turn off your cell phone. This does not mean you have to travel far, but rather find a place near your home or in your home. And when you do this just "talk" with God...just like you do to a very close friend. You will be amazed that if you do this on a regular basis how you will start to feel the direction God wants you to go!

Make it your priority to talk with God every week...not just on a Sunday morning in church. I pray that you will do this and will rediscover your "calling" from God!

Facing Your Giants

One of the aspects of our human existence that causes us problems is fear. We have things in our life that prevents us from doing what we should be doing, because we are afraid of what may or may not happen. Many of us have been raised with the concept that we are to "fear" God...I feel that is a misinterpretation and the word should be "respect" God.

In Mark 12:30 Christ says, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." He does not say we are to fear God. I am convinced the reason Christ said that is you can not have a relationship with a person you fear. Christ came to reestablish our relationship with God...with love.

It is interesting that the phrase "don't be afraid" appears 365 times in the Bible. As a member of my church said, "one for everyday of the year." If we are to become what God has meant us to become we must put aside our fears and enhance our faith:

"Our greatest enemies are not wild beasts or deadly germs but fears that paralyze thought, poison the mind and destroy character. Our only protection against fear is faith!" Anonymous. As this phrase states it is faith that will get us past any fears that we may have preventing us from fulfilling what our purpose from God is in our life.

I challenge you to open your hearts to Jesus Christ and to lay all of your fears and burdens at the foot of the empty cross. As it states in Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Make that your focus if you are facing fears that continue to paralyze you...learn to "lean" on Christ and He will help you make it through.

Call It Discovery!

Unfortunately we live in a culture that is success driven and that causes us a lot of problems. When something does not go well or we feel we have failed, we immediately translate that situation into "loser" mind set and nothing could be further from the truth.

We need to remember that one formula for success is that success happens because of failure. When we fail at something, we "discover" that we need to do something else or go a different path. We forget that a lot of people who we considered to be great or successful have failed many times. Thomas Edison attempted 10,000 different filaments before he successfully created the electric light bulb. Legend has it that when asked if he ever felt discouraged with so many failures, he answered none of his attempts were failures. They were each successful experiments in finding what didn't work!

In our lives we have stages where we feel like we have failed, but if we have Jesus Christ in our lives we never really fail. With Christ in your life, failures are really just discovering what does not work and you can start the process of going forward in the direction Christ has for you. It is not by chance that the Bible verse Philippians 4:13 fits this situation. "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

As you look at your own life, look at what you consider failures as true discovery of how God has been directing you. For without failures in our life, we would never change the direction or patterns in our life. It is time that we start thanking God for the times He has intervened and caused us to change our directions!

The Trip Home

As we began our trip home, I found myself experiencing so many different emotions. One emotion...ready to go home and the other wanting BGSU to play the game again. It was interesting to notice things we did not see on the way down. One was the little signs on interstate that read "Hurricane Evacuation Route."

The old saying "there is no place like home" was very evident the closer we got to Speed, IN. I found it interesting how the closer you get home the longer it seems to travel the short distances.

This will be my last posting concerning the trip to Mobile, AL and the GMAC Bowl. I hope that you have found it interesting to read and gave you a sense of what we where feeling and experiencing. The good thing is that I will continue to use this site to blog once a week. I plan to put a posting every Sunday night or Monday morning commenting on my message from Sunday or some event that has taken place.

Game Time!

The night started out to be wonderful! It is such an experience to witness a college football bowl game. The excitement was unbelievable and there was so much going on it was hard to take it all in.

One of the high points of the night was the reaction Kimber was having over all that she was seeing. This was the first college sporting event that Kimber had ever been to...and to say she was getting into it would be an understatement.

Although the outcome of the game was not good for the Bowling Green State University Falcons, it was a trip that I will never forget. I must say the fatherhood pride kicked in when I saw Tyler come out on the field with the team and then when he went in on the successful extra point attempt. I am always amazed at how quickly young people recover from a bad game. Tyler said they have already moved on from the game and ready to prepare for next season!

The game reminded me of how having a bad experience is just like our life and our faith. As a Christian we are not guaranteed that everything is going to go well every time. But we are guaranteed that if we follow Christ we will be able to go on even after a bad situation or experience.

Day Before the "Big Game."

Saturday, Jan. 5th, has definitely been a very interesting day. We spent sometime with Tyler, before he had to report for the "final" practice, and I discovered that players prepare for a game like people demonstrate
their faith.

Some players are very vocal and can be heard everywhere...so it is with some people and how they demonstrate their faith. Some players are very quiet and you hardly know they are here...again the same goes with people and how they demonstrate their faith. I also discovered that it doesn't matter how a player gets themselves mentally ready for a game, just as long as they do it and it does not matter how someone demonstrates their faith...just as long as they demonstrate it!

This evening we all attended the Mobile Mardi Gras parade...what an experience! We were told that the Mardi Gras parade originated in Mobile, AL, but that other city took it over and made it larger (for those of you who don't know what city that is...New Orleans). The parade is sponsored by GMAC...the same company that sponsors the bowl game. The amount of "bead" necklaces they throw off the lighted float is amazing and in some cases dangerous. Both Kari and Kimber got wacked in the face by "flying" beads. I think we came back to the hotel with at least 100 beaded necklaces.

I ended my night by talking to Greg Brandon, the head coach of BGSU football team. Coach Brandon said that Tulsa is a very powerful offensive team but believes that if we (BGSU) can keep the turnovers down we should do well. I can only say "I HOPE SO!" and GO FALCONS.

The Trip Down

Although the plan was to leave by 6 am, getting the rental car and everything packed, into the vehicle, held us up to 7:30 am. The trip down was long, but fortunately we were entertained by Mitchell and Kimber with jokes and singing.

The South has always interested me with the obvious differences in economic situation for the people who live here and also its natural beauty. There is a moss that hangs on the trees here that could be used in a horror movie. It makes the tree groves and timbers looked very haunting.

When we arrived at our hotel, we called Tyler and he came to the lobby to meet us. Every time I see Tyler I realize how short I really am! We can tell he is getting a little nervous about the up coming game and also all that he has to do here. He had to leave at 6 pm to attend the Mobile Mayor's banquet for both BGSU and Tulsa. He did come back to our room and devour a pizza we had ordered for Kari, Kimber and Mitchell.

Being here, has further demonstrated how God touches us through our children. I felt His presence when we were traveling and when all of us where in our room (with Tyler). I thank God so much for giving us this opportunity to be a part of a major event in Tyler's life.

The Anticipation

Friday, Kari (my wife), Mitchell (our son), his girl friend, Kimber and myself leave for Mobile, Alabama to see our son Tyler, play in the GMAC Bowl. Tyler plays offensive tackle for the Bowling Green State University (Bowling Green, OH) Falcons.

I find myself with so many different emotions concerning this trip. I am very excited for Tyler that he has the opportunity, but I find myself going back in time when he was a little boy and I was his first football coach...his head football coach until he reached junior high. I also find myself realizing how much my identity is tied up in faith, football and fatherhood.

Faith is what I do; football is the sport I love, but fatherhood is the greatest gift that God has given me. I can not imagine what my life would have been without our four children. So as we travel down to Mobile, I will be thinking about a little enthusiastic boy who loved to play the game of football and still does today!