Live Like You're Dying

Last night at The Porch JP got real with ALL in attendance... It was one of the MOST real, MOST honest, talks I've ever witnessed at The Porch and it's on JP's current series about Life Redefined...  There was a lot in last night's messaged that challenged me.  JP focused most of his message on what he described later, "if sex and parties brought sustaining joy, then hookers and alcoholics would be the most fulfilled people on earth."  Any one, despite there religious beliefs would not look at a hooker or an alcoholic and say, "man I wish I had her life" or "things must be going really good for him."  Instead, you would probably look at him or her and ask what happened that drug them to that point?  What was so bad that they turned to sex with strangers for money and drowning their sorrows in alcohol? As JP described last night, they got knocked off the path.  We as humans get distracted by the ways of the world and think that other things...

"While earning your daily bread, be sure you share a slice with those less fortunate."    -H. Jackson Brown Jr.  The measure of our wealth and worth is not found in what we have.   It is really found in what you give away.  Today is a great day to invest in the lives of others.  The return on your investment will yield dividends and rewards that will last a lifetime.  I have already mentioned in a previous post how rich I am- not in money, fame, or success, but in the things that matter.  I'm rich in faith, family, and friends.  And because of that I am happy to give back to people who need money more than I do.   I have two opportunities I'd like to share for you to help others who are in need. The first one is through my church, Watermark.  Through the month of March, the Young Adult and Single Adult ministries of Watermark Community Church are offering a way for YOU to participate in God's work in Haiti as the country c...

"There is no wisdom, no plan, no insight that can succeed against the Lord." -Proverbs 21:30 Regardless of what other have done or try to do, do not worry.  Our Creator has you in the palm of His hand.  He has you covered and He always wins.   Yesterday was my first time to visit Watermark church as a prospective member.  I have visited before with close friend when I have come into Dallas (back when I lived in Tyler), but when I moved to Dallas I knew where I wanted to go to church.  Key word in that sentence being "I".  My friend Jonathan took me to The Village church in Highland Village a couple years back.  I had rode along with him to a small town called Justin to help him pick up a vintage mustang he was buying and visited his old church with him.  And WOW, I was blown away at the Pastor.  You see Matt Chandler is a very honest and open pastor.  He admits his mistakes to his congregation, is a great story teller, and just ...

Barry Keldie used to be a student pastor at The Village Church and his funeral was held there this afternoon.  Please check back here to see how you can help his wife and two young children.  And keep the family in your thoughts and prayers. Thank you in advance.

First, I'd like to say how much respect I have for Sandra Bullock.  I was so happy for her Oscar win and her acceptance speech showed so much class, especially to the amazing group of women she shared the nomination with.  What an awesome woman! She said, “Not enough time, so I would like to thank what this film is about for me which are the moms that take care of the babies and the children no matter where they come from. Those moms and parents never get thanked. I, in particular, failed to thank one. So… if I can take this moment to thank Helga B. for not letting me ride in cars with boys until I was 18 because she was right. I would’ve done what she said I was gonna do. For making me practice every day when I got home. Piano, ballet, whatever it is I wanted to be. She said to be an artist, you had to practice every day, and for reminding her daughters that there’s no race, no religion, no class system, no color, nothing, no sexual orientation that makes us better than an...

"Low and behold, a Red Raider friend of mine text me yesterday, "I feel like you really, really, want me to like the aggies :-p" Now we have a saying down in A&M, From the outside looking in, you can't understand it. From the inside looking out, you can't describe it. There is one instance, one day, where I think the whole world understood what it meant to be an Aggie- November 18, 1999. But I will write more about Bonfire in a later post. About once a month I am now going to write some special stories about what it means to be an Aggie. And why you may not like us, I bet you have a better understanding as to why we love our school so much. DERRICK ROLAND Wednesday night, 3 of Aggies finest basketball players played their last game at Reed Arena: Bryan Davis, Donald Sloan, and Derrick Roland. It was the first time Roland (or D-Ro) had suited up in his uniform since he had a career ending injury during a game in Washington on December 22nd. The team w...

I started this blog as a way to really document my growth and my life here in Dallas, but in doing that, I have neglected to write anything about Cody.  So in this post I'd like to talk about a trip Cody and I were able to take to Laughlin, NV.  Never heard of it?  Me neither.. So apparently, Laughlin is right on the border of Arizona and Nevada.  It's basically a poor man's Vegas.  It has Casino's, some shopping, and a LOT of gray hair!!  I mean these are SERIOUS gamblers.  Now, I am really not one to gamble.  I love Vegas, but out of the 4 times I've been there, I've gambled once.  I put a dollar in a quarter machine and on the first spin I won $150 and decided to stop haha.. Shows you how much of a risk taker I am. But apparently when you go to a casino and get a membership card, they keep track of how much you spend, how much you win, and how much you lose.. Then they try to give you free trips and free money to play at the slots to...

"It’s been said that the biggest enemy of great is good."  The biggest enemy most of us will face is ourselves. That nagging voice that says, “Be like him, you’re not worthy, do what she does, go where the crowd is going.”  You see, when you are trying to be like someone else, the best you can ever be is second best.  And you will begin to settle for second best too.   It’s time to get our eyes off of others and onto God . People will always detour you, but God will always keep you on track. To become the person God intended you to be, use what God has given you.  Follow your unique plan.  Resist imitation and live the unlimited life God has for you!  Live for the eternal life now, otherwise you're going to miss the party.  You're going to miss all the joy and blessings intended for your life if you put all your energy into making money, going to parties, being the center o...

So I realize it has been a while and I have 3 topics I am going to Blog about.. To make them not so long, I will break them into 3 smaller blogs:  the first blog will be about "Success" On my way to church last night I started thinking about my next blog and this subject really popped in my head.  But once, I got to church, JP's message just made it so much more evident that this was what I needed to talk about..  So here it is:  SUCCESS- how we define it, how we live it, how it effects us. Watching the Olympics, I was kind of put off by some things.. I LOVE the Olympics, I love sports, but the idea of success is sometimes skewed.  For instance, when Apolo Ohno was DQd in the 500m race, the announcers spoke like it was a huge failure.. This is the same athlete they were praising as the most decorated Winter Olympic athlete just last week.  Was it disappointing that he DQd?  Yes, absolutely!!  But a failure? by no means.  Ohno had won medals...