Today

Some 1 word highlights from today:
-Cough
-Flagpole
-Pulled-pork (2 words, but fun to say)
-Pipe
-Drape
-Kite

In A Pit With a Lion

So I got a chance to meet (and confess to... and come off a little stalker-ish I'm sure) Mark Batterson at the Church Planters conference last week... During the first breakout he sat about 5 feet from me and was hammering away on his laptop as Steven Furtick "shucked the corn" for about 50 minutes... Afterward, I thanked Batterson for being a learner and not just sitting in some curtained off VIP area eating apples while waiting to speak and then catch a flight out of town... I also apologized for ever comparing him to another writer who took a certain obscure Old Testament verse and created a whole "bless me indeed" empire... You see, after actually beginning to read "In A Pit..." there is so much breadth and width to this book... Well, instead of fluffing on, I have decided to blog my findings:
Chapter 5 - Guaranteed Uncertainty
"...security scares lion chasers more than uncertainty." What a prayer! God, let me never choose the safe over the unknown.
...reminded of one of the most inspirational lines in the whole Bible... "Perhaps the Lord will act on our behalf." - Jonathan had some huge confidences!
"...what if, instead of spending all of our energy making plans for God, we spent that energy seeking God?" GULP. I am great at overplanning and an underseeking!
"...your explanations are more important that your experiences." Uncertainty is defined by perspective which is determined by my operating theology: do I really believe that God is who He says He is?
"The greatest hazard to your spiritual health is thinking that your past is haphazard or that your future is left up to chance alone." Again, operating theology question.

The Rundown 02.23

Sitting here watching the Memphis-Tennessee game... With a flurry of 3 pointers to start the game on both sides of the court... This one will definitely keep me up- to bad I am preaching tomorrow... Not speaking, but prea-ch-ing. Its all about Impacting People- no way to just "talk" about that.

Other highlights from today:
-"Movie Morning" with waffles since "Movie Night" fizzled.
-Memphis just HIT ANOTHER 3-pointer... of their first 20 points, 18 are from 3's!
-I had zero motivation (thanks to Nyquil & waffles) to study... but struck out for downtown anyway... on the way I found my motivation at Mrs. Hemphill's house... Stopped in for quick hello and was physically reminded of our MANDATE to be impacting people!
-Hung at Jimmy Johns & Starbucks- things gelled with the message pretty well.
-Did some personal devotional time... Great verse: 1 Kings 1:6 jumped off the page when it comes to child-rearing- our kid needs accountability for her actions!
-Cut the dormant lawn... cleaned up the weeds and just shaped it up- Spring is coming and the yard awaits!
-Parked downtown with an expired meter and dodged a ticket AGAIN... The streak continues- my truck must be a lot like Sonny's mom's airplane.

One more while I am at it...

Quick question... How UGLY are the Washington Wizards uniforms? (movie night is over)

Handing Off Well

So, this is by no means original or even fresh, but it was a great reminder as Wesley and I sat in my office and talked about how to hand something off well. I wonder if he realized that I did the total opposite in handing off THE 706 to him? Oh well... As long as I can learn and do better next time, right? Anyhow - thoughts on Handing off Well.

As seen on the shot from by BWB (Big White Board)... Handing off is a process of 5 steps...
-I do
-I Do, You Watch
-We Do
-You Do, I Watch
-You Do

Each of the last 4 steps would have an intentional conversation before and after. The before conversation outlines the intent for said step, and sets the stage for the after conversation, which offers the opportunity to review. This review conversation would be especially critical in the 2nd step as it allows the handee to review the hander... giving permission, in a sense, for the hander to then review the handee after step 4.

The image also shows some thoughts of the length of each step slower (s) or longer (l)... Obviously, the ultimate length of each step depends on the people involved and task at hand.

Like I said, nothing original, but a great reminder.

The Day That Was Friday

Highlights from today:
-Getting a ton of stuff done in the office on my day off... thats the payback from a great conference on Monday and Tuesday- still planning on breaking that down more...
-Officially retiring "Big Bry The Cool Prize Guy" after the MBES kickoff- 500 kids eating out of the palm of my hand... Not really. Although the screams when I revealed the iPod were deafening.
-Getting some study time in f0r Sunday... Liking the direction. The big question is what are you trying to fill your jar with? (Hint makes more sense in John 4 context)
-Getting a mile & a half in at the Y and then hanging with Macy in the pool... the hardest part of ramping up for the A&B5K is mental.. As I run, I cannot stop thinking of stopping.
-Stevie B's pizza and feeling like I might vomit at any moment.
-Using some of my "Big Bry" bootie (the money, not my hindquarters) to purchase "A Bug's Life" and then a family movie night.
-Blogging during family movie night, because I have missed half the movie with a bad case of the Stevie B's... I am sure I will see it again... and again and again and again.

Quick question...

How many of you have read one of my blogs and looked at my header picture and laughed at my unibrow?

Officially Not As Funny

The worst case scenario for me has just happened... My MUCH FUNNIER wife has begun to blog... Which of course means that everyone will now know that she is really the funnier of the two- I am just bigger, louder, and missing that "should I really say that" filter.

That said, big things are happening on the inside of me... I guess there is less going on without all the soda & sugar... And I have actually begun to work out again, so yeah... Anyway... I am formulating some stuff, really going through some much needed shaping... So, I look forward to sharing that in the near future.

I will say this- I just attended one of the most formative conferences ever... ever. I am still processing and reeling and, Isaiah said it best: RUINED.

Since Kelly is now up and running, I guess I shouldn't try to be funny anymore- she has always been my writer anyhow.

Mad props to my beautiful, witty, and poignant wife for joining the fray.