Sometimes the best thing for a leader to do is pause

My family has been blessed to be at the same church for over 16 years. We moved to East Texas with one child on the way and now we have 4 kiddos. I am thankful to the Lord to have been in full time ministry all those years. I have learned so much and been so blessed by this wonderful church body. I am still learning every day I get to serve them. The Lord has grown me and developed me. I used to be young and dumb; now I’m not as young and hopefully not as dumb. (Sorry, bad joke). I’ve learned a lot about leading and ministering to people in our church and in our community. When you have been at one church for that long you know a lot about a lot of things. I know a lot of people, their history, stuff in the church and how things work. I’ve been around for new sound systems, new websites, fire system inspections, internet and phone installations, and the list goes on and on.

As leaders, whether in family, work, or groups we are quick to act and take charge. This is part of who a leader is. They see something that needs to be done or handled and they begin to work it out. I used to think leading was always having an answer and always being able to figure something out. In the last few years I’ve come to realize it’s good that I know stuff but I need to share what I know with our staff and volunteers. Nothing should ride on just one or two people. I think pridefully I liked being able to do all the things. But that doesn’t make a good leader and it doesn’t make a healthy church. Through some coaching and some conversations with our staff, we all talked about things that we need to move off our plates to share the load. This was hard for me. I still struggle with it but I see the fruit of it. I see the importance of empowering other people to use the gifts God has given them.

Today at church I had the privilege of leading the large group time in our children’s ministry. Our children’s minister was on vacation. I was in the back of the room during worship and the projector disconnected. The kids didn’t skip a beat they continued to worship and sing. I knew what was wrong. We have a connection port that is messed up on the back of the computer and sometimes it does that. Plus there was a little girl over there near the AV cart and she probably bumped the cable. I didn’t move. I PAUSED. I waited a beat and 2 youth volunteers (including our oldest son - proud dad moment) knew what the problem was and took care of it. They were serving today and familiar with the problem and able to fix it. I loved it! I loved that the Lord made me wait so they could step in and lead.

I don’t know why I get to do what I do. I know it’s all for His glory but I’m just a big goober that gets to watch the Lord work in ways only He can. But I’m honored to serve the Lord and serve HIs church. Our staff was asked one time to pray about and write down a few things we knew that God had called us to do as individuals. One of those things for me was to lead leaders. I always want to be learning more about leading and encouraging leaders. Today, the Lord reminded me to pause.

Next Level Nostalgia

Nos·tal·gia

/nəˈstaljə/

noun

• 1.a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations:

  • "I was overcome with acute nostalgia for my days in college"

Last week I was driving in the car with our kiddos and the youngest started telling us they were learning about pirates in pre-school. (This may seem odd but our school mascot is a pirate and it was homecoming week, so…) That night I found a few pirate songs on Spotify and then we listened to them the next morning on the way to school. I played some pirate songs from Imagination Movers and of course, Veggie Tales. I played him, “The Pirates who don’t do anything”. Then it went to the rock version by Relient K. Now that’s all he wants to listen to when we are on our way to school. He loves it and I love that he is digging it.

There are all kinds of things that we love in our world. So much is new and creative but there are some things that bring back such a joy and a smile to our souls. Most of the times this is music or movies or sometimes a location or a smell. I believe Kenny Chesney had a really good song about this, “I go back.” We all have these things that warm our hearts and we want others to find the same kind of joy we have.

As a parent there is great nostalgia that comes with a lot of things and most of it bores our kids to the core. We love showing them old pictures of us, where we used to live and about how we fell in love. We especially like to tell them about the “good ole days.” Those were the days before kids when we could do whatever we wanted. Haha! A lot of our favorite things don’t connect with our kids the same way it does with us. But when it does…it is next level.

It is a next level of nostalgia when your kid begins to like what you love. And then they love it too. And that joy is passed on for them to enjoy. Sometimes this connection comes automatically and sometimes it comes because you talk about it all the time. Either way, enjoy it. Roll down the windows, crank up that song and be in the moment with your kids.

25

Tonight we are at Pirate Stadium for some good ole Texas high school football. It’s homecoming. My wife and I went to different schools but we have been in this amazing town for over 16 years so it’s exciting to be here and see some of the alumni here tonight.

The announcer (PK) was recognizing different graduating classes and I realized this is year we have been out of high school 25 years! That is crazy!

I have always viewed birthday and stuff as just a number. But for some reason that 25 blows my mind. How was high school that long ago? Tonight our oldest was bandsman of the week and a junior. We have a 10 yo, 6yo, and 4yo. 25 years out of high school brings lots of perspective and reflection.

Thank you Lord, we are blessed beyond belief!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Yesterday was my dad’s birthday. He would have been 72 years old. This was his 12th birthday in heaven. I remember his first birthday after he passed and it was weird to think he would have been 60. And it’s even harder to think of him as being 72 years old. This pictures is from when I was little or maybe around the time I was born. I like pictures like this because it was before he was sick. It was before he cheated on my mom and they divorced. It was before a lot of things happened in our lives.

My dad had an infectious smile and personality. I miss him a lot. I wish I could just talk to him, hear his voice and hear him laugh. One of the hardest things is that our oldest is the only one that was alive when my dad was alive. And he was 4 when he passed so he doesn’t remember a lot. It hurts my heart that they don’t know him and that he doesn’t get to see them grow. He would love them so much.

I know he is heaven and I know we will see him again because of our hope of salvation in Jesus Christ. I don’t know how things are in heaven. I don’t have any biblical evidence on this but I hope that there are times when the Lord pulls people to the edge of heaven and shows them their family doing something awesome. I don’t know. Just a hope that it could happen. Just wanted to drop a few thoughts on here because my dad has been on my brain a lot the last few days.

Trust and obey…a Honduras adventure

Toncontin Airport - Tegucigalpa, Honduras  - taken 6/28/2019

Honduras is a beautiful country filled with amazing people. Our church started going to Honduras in the early 2000’s. I’ve been blessed to go on almost a dozen mission trips to New Life Children’s Home in Jalaca. God is in that place. I love when I get the chance to go down there and serve. Recently, I was going through an old journal looking for a drawing based on Mark 4 and the parable of the four soils. As I was looking I came across an entry about one of our adventures in Honduras. I don’t journal regularly. However, I do like to write things down that I want to remember. And I am thankful that I wrote down this story while it was fresh on my mind. It is a great story of God’s love and provision. And a reminder that in challenging times we are to trust God in all things, even if it doesn’t seem like it’s going to work out. So here is my journal entry from June 2019. (Side note: this is the year I forgot the Texas Ranger blanket that was gifted to me by one of the best people in the world, Trinity. But that’s a story for another day.)

HONDURAS 2019
”There has been a lot of political unrest in Honduras over the last year. People have been protesting against the president. A few weeks before the 1st team left [for Honduras] there was an incident and a bunch of tires got burned at the front door of the American Embassy. Team 1 had no problems [when the got in country].”

'“Team 2 (my team), was set to leave on Friday, June 28th. On the 27th, we were in Houston and we got a text that the airport in Tegucigalpa was going to be closed the next day. My heart dropped. Shortly after that we got an update on our flight that it would be delayed 2 hours. Turns out that June 28, 2009 was the day of a military coup that removed the president. So we were flying out on the 10 year anniversary. There were talks of protests. I really didn’t know if we were going to make it to Honduras. My mind was flooded with ideas and options. Do we wait in Houston until the next day? How many days do we wait? Would they really close the airport? What if we couldn’t go and what if team 1 couldn’t leave?”

“So we slept. My stomach was upset the next morning because I really didn’t think we would make it. We got ready and we were waiting on the shuttle and we had prayed that morning. God brought Proverbs 3:5-6 to my mind.

‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.’”

“I was so worried about what we were going to do when things didn’t work out that I wasn’t consulting the Lord. I was praying but it was about what to do. God reminded me (very loudly and clearly) that my role is to trust Him. I need to leave the details and outcome to Him. If we don’t go then He has a plan for us. Trust. Lean. Acknowledge. I wasn’t doing any of these. So my mindset and attitude shifted.”

“We went to the airport. Cleared ticketing and security in like 30 minutes. Still delayed. Got to the terminal and ate. Still delayed. Departure time got moved back several more times. Then, we loaded the plane around noon. We took off and headed for Tegucigalpa. Great flight. Half empty plane. We were able to land in Tegucigalpa! The airport had closed for the morning because of the 10 year anniversary. There was a LARGE police force there. Other flights had been cancelled.”

“Now, would we make it through customs with all the pet meds?! Last year we got stopped and lost most of our medicine. This year we tried to get paperwork handled but the lawyer on the Honduras side dropped the ball. We cleared customs and got all our bags easily. We went through security and didn’t stop us at all. We looked at each other and were like, ‘Let’s go!’ We got outside to Ron. Then we walked through probably over 100 police officers, some in riot gear.”

“Not sure all God did to make it all happen but He did it! He made it happen. Did He cause the police presence and tension to help us get through? Did He blind the agents and they didn’t see our medications? Idk..but God did it! Praise the Lord! We don’t know what God has for us each and every day. My job is to trust that He is in control and leave the outcome to Him.”

God blessed Texas

Taken by Zach at Broach Park on 8/20/2024

In the early 90’s I started listening to country music. One of the first artists I listened to was Garth Brooks. He is one of the GOATs. Another band on the scene was called Little Texas. They were not nearly as popular as Garth but had some great songs that are still around today. One of their hits was from 1993 called, “God blessed Texas”. This was a great rock, country song that paid tribute to the great state of Texas. The chorus went like this, “God blessed Texas with His own hands, brought down angels from the promise land. Gave them a place where they could dance if you wanna see Heaven brother here’s your chance. I’ve been sent to spread the message, God Blessed Texas.” The whole song references the beauty of Texas (and they include the females from Texas). The song is true and I was blessed enough to marry a beautiful East Texas girl.

The song is true, God did bless Texas. This is an amazing state geographically as well as the folks that are proud to be called Texans. There is a great deal of pride in the heart of us Texans that I am not sure exists in some other states. We have a deeper history that runs through this great state which causes anyone from Texas to walk with a little more swagger than the rest. I am probably bias because I’m from Texas but it really is the best. And the Lord shows off His majesty in this beautiful state.

It is August in Texas, and normally we are burning up by this point in the summer. Thankfully, we have had above average rain fall this summer and all week the Lord has been providing some amazing clouds each morning. I took the picture above on my way to the church this week. God’s glory is everywhere. Romans 1:20 says that God’s invisible qualities are all around us. You may just look at that picture and see clouds but I hope you see the Glory of the King of Kings who is at the right hand of the Father. Have a good one.

TGIF

When I was a kid, Fridays were the best! It was the last day of school for the week but it also meant some of the best family friendly television shows were coming on that night. TGIF (Thank Goodness It’s Funny/Friday) meant Full House, Family Matters, Step by Step, and Boy Meets World just to name a few. This was before the days of DVRs, HDTV, and On-Demand television. At 7pm you needed to be in front of your television set ready to watch. This was an era of greatness and it is hard to describe to our kids or others that have grown up with internet and streaming services. But to an 80’s kid, there is nothing but joy and nostalgia when you mention some of those shows.

As an adult, Fridays are still a great day. We have survived the week and now we are rewarded with a few days “rest”. Sometimes rest means ball tournaments, mowing the yard, and birthday parties. This year is unique in that all 4 of our kiddos are in school and the church office is closed on Fridays. Therefore, I have Fridays to do whatever needs to get done…by myself. Usually a lot of errands and playing catch up from the week. Sometimes I work on videos and do side jobs. If I’m lucky I get to have lunch with my beautiful wife, Benita.

This is my first Friday of the school year. Just like a little kid I’m looking forward to whatever happens tomorrow. I have a plan and a to do list but I enjoy getting things done for my family and preparing for any adventures we have over the weekend. So no matter what you have going on tomorrow…TGIF.

Thoughts and ramblings…

I wasn’t going to make a blog on my website. That’s weird to say that I have a website. My wife and I used to have a blog back in the day on blogspot I think. That was before social media really took hold and we used it to share stories and pictures with our family and friends.

My plan now is to use this to share stories and thoughts with anyone who wants to listen. My hope is that these stories could be encouraging and maybe relatable. Maybe someone will read something and realize that we all have struggles, experience joy and disappointment. Sometimes I ramble and now I have a legit place to do it.