The Way

Allow me to gloat for a couple of lines. I had 7 of the 8 in the Elite Eight and I have all four in the Final Four. Okay, enough of that. This is going to be a busy week. I started out with meetings this morning after a 5-miler in the cool, not so steady rain, and then we have the girls' basketball banquet tonight. Might be a tear or two with this being Shelbi's last go around with sports banquets. I think we will survive it though. I head out of town on Weds. and there is much to be done before I leave. I have doing a resource fair in La Puente on Thursday, a large conference in Riverside on Fri./Sat. and then head to Las Vegas on Sunday morning for another resource fair on Monday. I need to squeeze in watching the ballgames on Saturday night and then try to catch the championship game on Monday night before bringing a red-eye back getting me home Tuesday morning. Crazy I know but I have a meeting on Tuesday I really cannot miss. No word from Sondra's parents yet so we are...

Okay, so my Elite 8 are all in tact except for the spot Davidson sits in. I had the Hoyas there and then my Final 4 is all the #1 seeds. So, my bracket looks pretty good save Davidson. Watching them play Wisconsin last night almost makes a believer out of me. I do think their run ends tomorrow against the Jayhawks however. I think KU has too much even for Curry to overcome. Carolina will have their hands full with Louisville tonight for sure. Too very good coaches going against one another in this one for sure. Roy Williams is the man and Pitino is a close runner up. Hard to believe that Pitino has never lost a Sweet 16 game and has carried three different teams to the Final Four (I think I am right on that one - Providence, Kentucky and Louisville). It is a writing day for me today. I am at the public library trying to get it done. I ran almost 11 miles this morning in 1:19 which is not too bad for me. I did 45 miles completed this week and then after the run this morning went to Pane...

It was fun to watch the very limited coverage of Carolina last night. The Xavier/West Virginia game was exciting and I had picked Xavier so it helped my bracket. Now I have to admit that Western Kentucky played UCLA very tough and it showed that UCLA is very vulnerable which is why I have them in the final 4 but do not have them in the championship game. Tennessee was just manhandled by Louisville last night. I had those two playing in my bracket with Louisville winning. I did not think they would win by 19, but Tennessee just did not shoot well at all. I like Bruce Pearl but I think he has to get past some really big games to be considered a great coach. I think he is a very good coach however and he has turned the Tennessee program around for sure. I am looking forward to a good weekend at home. I have some writing to do to finish up the leader guide for the book on student leadership that I have been writing. It will be good to get that one completed. Writing is hard work. Good, rew...

We got Sondra home late last night after a couple of delayed flights. We are glad that she is home. Morgan leaves today for a Student Council event in Memphis so all four of us were under the same roof for about 8 hours. Sondra's dad seems to be doing a little better right now and he got a clearer understanding from the dr. of the cancer that he has and knows that it is not curable. Sondra has a way of zeroing in and got the dr. to just really help them understand what is going on. All hope is not lost by any stretch, but it does give them a clearer understanding of what they are facing. He also is receiving high doses of prednizone (sp?) to fight the infection in his chest and the blood clot in his leg seems to be some better. Pray for his physical strength and encouragement. Sondra's mom has a series of pretty extensive tests scheduled for tomorrow to get to the bottom of the pain she has been experiencing. I am attending two funerals today. Both of the men we are honoring we...

This may be a little more contemplative than my usual posts for sure. At times there are things that run through my mind that just have to get out. The last couple of months have been pretty busy and I have found myself really thinking about some things in life that really matter. I know it may go without saying but the last few months with mom's illness and death have made me realize just how thankful I am for so many people in my life. I really do think that my dad is the greatest man I know. I have thought that for many years but these last few months, he has just been amazing. His reliance on God throughout all of mom's sickness and death and in the months since mom died, he has just modeled trust in God. Sondra, Shelbi and Morgan are just amazing ladies in my life. Sondra is so incredible in her walk and in her love for God. She is now walking through some really tough times with her mom and dad's physical frailties, and I really hope I can be the rock she has been for...

The girls got home from FL last night and we headed to church this morning. Sondra is in MO with her parents and her sister and her family arrived there a couple of hours ago. I am thankful Sondra is getting to spend some time with her family. Please continue to pray for Sondra's parents. Her dad is doing fair and her mom is always in the kitchen and rarely rests. The girls and I had a wonderful lunch with our friends The Fullers. They are a real blessing to our family and have been for the last 15 years or so. God is so good to give us friends like them. Mitch led worship at our church this morning and it was wonderful. He used to be the worship leader at our previous church and it was good to sit under his leadership again today. My bracket is sort of messed. My final four are still in but I only have 10 of the sweet 16 in place. It is amazing to me that I can spend 5 minutes or 5 hours on my bracket and it comes out about the same each year. I did the 5 minute plan this year. I ...

Man it has been a whirlwind to say the least. Our time in Florida ended up very well. We laid in the sun on Weds., dodged rain on Thursday and laid out some, and then had dinner with our old friends, Clark and Patti Keator. They are the folks who let us stay in their house while we were in Orlando and they were on a cruise. It was great fun to catch up with them. On Friday morning, we got up early and headed to the airport. It was nuts. We were not flying together since I put Sondra on a free ticket so I got home about 930a, picked up the dog and mowed the lawn. Sondra went through NY LGA and got home later than scheduled. I had left at 1p to head to east Tennessee with a couple of guys from the SS class to camp and white water raft. Great fun. We laughed putting up the tent, starting the fire (I was in charge of that and we came out good) and then trying to see how flammable Jacob was. Not very. We were trying to light the lantern, but Jacob tried to light himself a little. No problem...

I left Des Moines early Sunday, had lunch with Sondra in Nashville and then boarded a plane for Orlando. We are partnering with Universal Studios to provide training for Rock the Universe in Sept. and paired up with Jay Strack to be involved with his Youth Pastor Summit on Monday and Tuesday this week. It was great to hear some good speakers (Francis Chan, John Eldredge, Brent Crowe, and Ed Young, Jr.) and I got a little platform time to talk about our KNOWN strategy and our partnership with Rock the Universe. I also did a breakout yesterday on What Students Wish We Knew with our strategy at the heart of the presentation. It was great to meet some new friends in ministry and see some folks I have known a long time. Sondra flew in Monday night and we have been hanging out some and especially today. No worries and no work today. Monday night I headed to the Blue Man Group show comped by Universal as part of their wooing us. Sondra flew in later so missed the show but we headed back to Un...

On Friday am I got up early and ran 5, caught a plane and ended up in Des Moines for a conference I was participating in. It turned out to be a really strong conference with a little platform time and a break out on the student development strategy we have been working on for about a year and a half. I have a link to it on my sidebar if you are interested in learning more. I head to Orlando tomorrow and Sondra will meet me there on Monday night. I lead a conference on Tues morning and then we are planning on spending a few days just hanging out in Orlando. Should be fun. The girls are going to Naples with some friends so everyone will be in Florida only not all in the same place. We hope to get to Universal some time during the week. Sondra's dad seems to be doing okay once they figured out he had a blood clot and have him off his feet and on blood thinners. Keep praying.

Sondra, being her persuasive self, convinced her dad to go to the dr. today and they found a pretty large blood clot in his leg, thus the out of breath and severe pain in the leg. They have started him on blood thinner, staying off his leg with it elevated. There is still a little confusion about the levels in the blood from earlier tests, but things seem to be a little better right now. Just wanted to keep you updated and thanks for praying.

I got this in an email from Bernard yesterday after I posted. Please pray for him: Although I still feel reasonably well I need to report a change in my condition. Last week I was able to walk around the house without the aid of a cane or walker. After teaching my class Sunday morning things changed rapidly. While walking down about 15 stairs with the help of the banister and the strong arm of one of my class, I was completely out of breath and since then I cannot walk many steps without the walker and experiencing shortage of breath. I think the problem is associated with the left leg which really feels heavy. I see my neurologist next Monday morning. Forgive me for constantly asking for prayer. For those who pray, Joyce and I are extremely grateful. I’m not sure what to ask for but our heavenly Father will guide you. Thanks for faithfully praying.

Not the sappy movie that had the two dogs and a cat trying to find their way back home, but me finally headed towards home and my lovely wife and two daughters. It has been almost a week since I left, but it seems longer than that. The trip has been most effective and the meetings all went well and I met some really great folks who love students and want them to become like Christ. What a privilege it is for me to be able to encourage them and provide tools to help them help others. I really do have a great role in the Kingdom right now. But I am a husband and a dad and then an encourager of others in that order. And . . . it is time to go home. I leave again Fri. and come home Sunday and then Sunday afternoon head to FL where Sondra will meet me on Monday. I am working a couple of days in FL and then playing for the next few days. It will be fun. I am about to get on a plane here in Richmond so will need to cut this short. Pray for my father-in-law, who is feeling really well, and pra...

It was fun to watch Carolina beat Duke on Sr. night at Duke once again. Psycho T (Tyler Hansbrough) has won three times at Duke. Pretty much unheard of. It was good to see the Heels show that they are pretty good inside, in transition, and can play defense. I had dinner last night with Julie Burden (a former student of mine and good friend of our family) and one of her friends Kelley Mesa. We enjoyed some Lebanese food and enjoyed just catching up with one another. This morning I worshiped with John McArthur on television. I then headed into DC to run The Mall. It is really sunny here today but very windy and cold. I ran about 7 miles, talked to a few other runners and planned on running more but when I went by my car (parked next to the Potomac and FDR Memorial) there were all kinds of emergency vehicles including a helicopter and water rescue. Emergency personnel were pulling a body out of the river and it was pretty obvious that any attempts at reviving the young man (it appeared to...

I am watching the Carolina/Duke game. I really do not like Duke. I think Coach K is a very good coach, but I am pulling for Roy to win tonight. Coach K could be a great coach if he left Duke. Looks like the officials are going to let them play. It is less than 6 min. in the first half and there is a lot of banging going on. Go Heels!

I am still in Baltimore (area) and the meetings and presentations I had yesterday went very well. It is good to among youth/student leaders who love God and students and their families. I also got to have dinner with one of my former students who is living in the DC area. Jonathan is a great guy who is involved with the Naval Credit Union and does something in the credit card fraud prevention division. He explained it to me and I sort of understand what he does. We enjoyed a good meal together and then headed in to DC for me to see the WW2 memorial for the first time. It was a pretty nice night, plenty of school tours going on, and we even took a drive down The Mall and saw all the major sites. DC is a beautiful city and a huge sense of American pride wells up inside of me every time I am in DC. This morning I took a run that was supposed to be about 8 miles but I overshot my car on the way back and ended up doing about 10. It was a good thing the crossing guard lady was so nice or I m...

I arrived in Baltimore today to do three days of meetings in this area and then down to DC to see a former student of ours and then on to Richmond for another couple of meetings. The weather is just pretty incredible here today but the route through Detroit was interesting. It was sunny, but they got about 6 inches of snow last night. Flights were a little delayed but nice and sunny once we got here in Baltimore. I am going to finish up the book while I am here this week too. I will get it done this week. It is time. Looking forward to getting it done and make my editor happy. Headed off to grab some dinner and then back to the hotel to get some work done. There will be basketball on and I need to write. I better pay attention to what I am writing.

It has been a good weekend with the conference on Friday and Saturday in Columbia, MO. Lyle Witcher is the state guy in MO that I work with and he is like a breath of fresh air. He has a real heart for ministering to youth ministers and loves his job. As we talked this weekend, we discovered that his sister and my wife were big buds in college and Sondra even sang in Leeanne's wedding. For some reason I did not attend the wedding. Hmmm. Got to spend time with my dad Sat. night and Sunday and even preached at his church yesterday morning. Dad really seems to be doing pretty good. I know he gets lonely. He told me on Sat. that Sunday nights are his hardest times so I was glad to be with him last night. The weather here was in the 70s Sat and Sun and then last night a cold front pushed through and dropped it to about 30 outside now. They were supposed to get snow but thankfully that did not materialize and I was able to make it to the airport this morning with no problems. I am sittin...

I just realized that I had not updated what is going on in our lives for the past few days. Actually, we are all doing good pretty good and enjoying just starting to slow down a little bit (which is not really slowing down at all.) We ended up in the gym every night but Friday this week and we saw some great basketball. I headed out yesterday morning for KC and got to spend some time with my dad yesterday and then headed to Columbia for a conference that I am speaking out today. After the conference I am headed back to my dad's, will preach for him tomorrow, hang out with dad and my brother and sister-in-law and head back to Tennessee for work early Monday. This is a crazy travel time for the next two months so you will be seeing a lot of "on the road" blogs. A bonus for me today is that the conference I am doing is in the shadows of the wonderful MIZZOU. Go Tigers!