Wow, this past weekend was busy. We decided to celebrate Ryan's first birthday on Saturday because we knew there would be a ton of family around and we were scheduled to take the weekend off from leading worship so it seemed like a good weekend to do it. The Beer clan came in (7 in all) and then my mom and little sis, Karina. Add in the four of us and Jeffy, Charissa, and the nugget and that made for a TON of people in our house. It made me reeeeaaaaallly grateful for our new place and amazingly enough we all fit inside! We had a great little family party and Ry-ry got his first taste of cake and he loved it. I think Josh likes Ry's gifts more than Ry does. So we spent all day Saturday with the family and mom and Karina took off to go home and then it turned out that we had to lead worship on Sunday so we went to church early came home, fed everyone again and then my mom, dad, Karina, and a friend decided that they wanted to go to the city on Monday so they showed back up at 8pm on Sunday night and we all hung out with my family and Robyn (my monther-in-law....who graciously stayed until today to help us recover). I had a ton of fun on Sunday night for sure. It was an unexpected chance to hang with my moms and pops. Then we all got up early on Monday and went to breakfast. While everyone got to go to the city and hang out, I got to go to work....yay. It was probably the busiest weekend we've had in a long time but it was a blast to have everyone here and to actually have enough space for them all!
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In other news, I joined a gym on Monday. I've wanted to join one for a long time but I could never find one that had racquetball and basketball as well as all the other junk that you get at a gym. The place I joined used to be a corporate gym where you had to know someone who works in the building to be able to join. I knew this but I just called them on the off chance that I might be able to find someone I knew who could sponsor me to join. Much to my surprise they were actually having open enrollment and I could just walk in and join. So I went to check it out and it was pretty sweet. I still hold every gym to the standard of the 'ol Captial Courts because I think that was the best gym ever. This place is no Capital Courts but it's the best thing I've found since living here in Scotts Valley. So I signed up on Monday afternoon and Heather ended up being out with the boys when I got home for work so I shot over there for my first workout. I showed up at 6:30 and there was hardly anyone there....it was flippin sweet! I ran a couple miles on a treadmill (surprisingly, not that boring) and then shot some hoops for 45min or so. The whole time I was there I hardly saw anyone. I'm not sure if this is going to be a positive or a negative though. It's great to be able to hop on any machine I want, but I'm going to want some people to play bball and racquetball with. I guess I'll have to see what develops. So we'll have to see how long my passion for going lasts. I really just want to start lifting a bit cause I'm tired of getting pushed around when I play my Thursday night hoops game and I think I'm tired of being a weakling. I'm gonna pay for it for at least the next year so I better stay on it and, who knows? The next time you see me I might be all the way up to 170 from my meager 162!
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
We meet again....
I recently went to breakfast with a friend of mine from church. I was talking with him about some things that I was going through at home and in life in general and we were discussing the fact that the majority of my issues stem from my arch nemesis....pride. I HATE pride and yet it's been a battle for me for who-knows-how-long. I have a constant need to be RIGHT and, in general, I want to be the smartest person in the room. It really drives me nuts that it feels so good to be right and I truly don't want to be that kind of annoying person. Usually, I can do a fair job of hiding it or downplaying (the ever present flip side of pride: false humility....a completely separate post) but as with anything, it's way easier for it to come out at home. And being right all the time doesn't really help out on the 'ol home front.
Occasionally, when I know that I'm having a particularly rough go with my pride, I'll semi-confess by saying "I have a need to be right all the time...." but while I was at breakfast with my friend, God really convicted me of that line of thinking. The sooner that I can recognize and call it out for what it really is, the sooner I can get free of it. "being right all the time" is a much easier thing to say than "i am really having a tough time with pride" but you gotta call it what it is.
The hardest part for me is that I have so much to be prideful about. I have a fantastic wife and great kids, I'm successful in my job and I'm making more money than I ever have, and I have a very "up front" position at church. It goes to my head so fast! And isn't it just like the enemy to whisper into my ear to take out all my pride on those around me that have given me such a great life? It's so easy for me to think that I'm the one who is making all these things happen. And that's the great thing about accountability, I have someone I can go to and admit the most horrific things about me and that person will still love and care for me and pray for me. I used to hate to have to admit the things that were/are screwy in my life because I didn't want to be caught being "wrong" (again...pride, gah!) But, about 2 yrs ago, I was at my church's men's weekend and the leader of the weekend gave each person a scripture that he felt was for each one for the weekend. Mine was a scripture in Psalms that says "Those whom the Lord loves, he corrects"....just great! EXACTLY what I wanted to hear! It turned out to be such a fantastically liberating verse for me and I walked away from that weekend able to admit that I'm screwed up and it's OK. It's not OK to stay that way and not be willing to change but God has great grace for me and as He works on the things in my life, it's ok to share and talk about my "stuff"....I think I got off topic...oh well.
Anyways, I've been thinking about my pride a lot and how being "right" is actually pretty hurtful to those around me and that's not who I want to be. To hammer home the point our pastor talked about pride this weekend and I was reminded of the verse in 1 Peter that says that God opposes the proud but give grace to the humble. I so desperately want to be someone who is humble and gracious to others above all else. I don't want to be right all the time. I don't want to be a jerk or to be annoying to be around. That's not who God made me to be. The last thing that my friend said to me was "you can't rest on you laurels". This pride thing isn't gonna go away without some serious effort to continually pray and ask God to change me and, gulp, make me humble.
So there it is. Now everyone (all 5 people who read this and don't already know) knows I have a tough time with pride. It's a tough pill to swallow but it's just one more step on my road to being set free from this junk!
Occasionally, when I know that I'm having a particularly rough go with my pride, I'll semi-confess by saying "I have a need to be right all the time...." but while I was at breakfast with my friend, God really convicted me of that line of thinking. The sooner that I can recognize and call it out for what it really is, the sooner I can get free of it. "being right all the time" is a much easier thing to say than "i am really having a tough time with pride" but you gotta call it what it is.
The hardest part for me is that I have so much to be prideful about. I have a fantastic wife and great kids, I'm successful in my job and I'm making more money than I ever have, and I have a very "up front" position at church. It goes to my head so fast! And isn't it just like the enemy to whisper into my ear to take out all my pride on those around me that have given me such a great life? It's so easy for me to think that I'm the one who is making all these things happen. And that's the great thing about accountability, I have someone I can go to and admit the most horrific things about me and that person will still love and care for me and pray for me. I used to hate to have to admit the things that were/are screwy in my life because I didn't want to be caught being "wrong" (again...pride, gah!) But, about 2 yrs ago, I was at my church's men's weekend and the leader of the weekend gave each person a scripture that he felt was for each one for the weekend. Mine was a scripture in Psalms that says "Those whom the Lord loves, he corrects"....just great! EXACTLY what I wanted to hear! It turned out to be such a fantastically liberating verse for me and I walked away from that weekend able to admit that I'm screwed up and it's OK. It's not OK to stay that way and not be willing to change but God has great grace for me and as He works on the things in my life, it's ok to share and talk about my "stuff"....I think I got off topic...oh well.
Anyways, I've been thinking about my pride a lot and how being "right" is actually pretty hurtful to those around me and that's not who I want to be. To hammer home the point our pastor talked about pride this weekend and I was reminded of the verse in 1 Peter that says that God opposes the proud but give grace to the humble. I so desperately want to be someone who is humble and gracious to others above all else. I don't want to be right all the time. I don't want to be a jerk or to be annoying to be around. That's not who God made me to be. The last thing that my friend said to me was "you can't rest on you laurels". This pride thing isn't gonna go away without some serious effort to continually pray and ask God to change me and, gulp, make me humble.
So there it is. Now everyone (all 5 people who read this and don't already know) knows I have a tough time with pride. It's a tough pill to swallow but it's just one more step on my road to being set free from this junk!
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Golfin with the Pops
This past weekend, my parents came down to visit. I think it was mostly for the grandkids but I guess they may have wanted to see us too :) It was so great to get to see them and my little sister Karina. That makes two weekends in the past month or so which is extrememly rare for us. We had a great time hanging out, puting the new, as yet un-named bbq to use, making fun of each other and just flat out having fun.
One thing that has become a staple of visits with my parents is that my dad and I and (usually, except for when he's crippled) Jeff go out and play some golf. My dad started us golfing when we were just little lads. In fact, I bought my first set of clubs from K-Mart on layaway for $100. I saved a year for those things! For the past few years, it's become a matter of fact thing. Whenever we see each other, we go play. He used to beat me pretty regularly but about 2 years ago, I started winning....and winning big (sorry, dad). I think thats mabye why we play so much; he just HAS to beat me. And I wonder where I get my competetive nature from?
Anyways, all that to say that golf with my dad is one of the things in life that I treasure most. We just get 4 or 5 hours to hang out as father/son and as friends. We don't even have to talk about anything but golf and the things going on around us. It's just great to just be together and I value that time so much. I can't wait until Joshy and Ryan are old enough to come out and play with us and we can make it a foursome.
One thing that has become a staple of visits with my parents is that my dad and I and (usually, except for when he's crippled) Jeff go out and play some golf. My dad started us golfing when we were just little lads. In fact, I bought my first set of clubs from K-Mart on layaway for $100. I saved a year for those things! For the past few years, it's become a matter of fact thing. Whenever we see each other, we go play. He used to beat me pretty regularly but about 2 years ago, I started winning....and winning big (sorry, dad). I think thats mabye why we play so much; he just HAS to beat me. And I wonder where I get my competetive nature from?
Anyways, all that to say that golf with my dad is one of the things in life that I treasure most. We just get 4 or 5 hours to hang out as father/son and as friends. We don't even have to talk about anything but golf and the things going on around us. It's just great to just be together and I value that time so much. I can't wait until Joshy and Ryan are old enough to come out and play with us and we can make it a foursome.
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