Chris's Musings

Merry Christmas Eve! "Today" has always been a day of expectation for me; awaiting the Christmas festivities of opening gifts and the newness that comes from all of the new toys and games in the house, now awaiting the arrival of family that I don't get to see much with my living 700 miles away in the peach land of Georgia.  It kind of started with my childhood expectation of what Santa may bring me; and now it's a different and much richer expectation that's come from experiencing the love of Jesus because regardless of which historical day He actually came into the world, tomorrow is the day that those of us that cherish Him celebrate it. However, in our festive anticipation... with all of the glamour and beauty that we place around it... dwarfs the anticipation and expectation of that very first Christmas.  On whatever day and whatever month it actually happened. There were no rushes to the shopping malls.  There were no trees.  There were no lineups of p

Tomorrow will mark another day in the history of the world where someone predicted the end of the world... A bunch of people got worked up... And... Nothing happened. The Mayans got us worked up a little with their little calendar trick... of course our calendars go defunct every year so it's time for them to feel what we all feel and pony up for a Cow Calendar.  Heck, it pays for itself, assuming you like Chicken. But seriously, if I were to bet on anyone's prediction on the end of the world, I probably wouldn't. I mean, Jesus said that when it comes no one will be looking for it.  It will be a shocker. The Mayans predicted the date. Jesus rose from the dead, was seen after the fact, and the people that wrote about it could have had it disproven but no one could. The Mayans were conquered by the Spanish and their culture has been defunct for almost 400 years. No offense... I'm going with the guy that beat death. If I see one of y'all, I'll

A week or so ago, I was having breakfast with Mark Shull, my groups director and a mentor of mine; and I remember, in mentioning my frustration with my sinful tendencies, that sometimes I would like go get a Delorean (I am a Back to the Future fan, so any time machine that I would envision would be housed inside of a Delorean... any amens?), travel back to the Garden of Eden, and punch Adam in the face. This created some dialogue, as you can imagine, because the statement does have a little shock value.  But more on that to come. I had the same thought when I finally grasped what happened on Friday.  Apparently some deranged kid (he was 20) decided to go into his mom's school and start shooting innocent children.  26 innocent children and teachers lost their lives... for what?  They just showed up to school.  Again.. I wanted to get into a Delorean and punch Adam in the face (well, him and this dude in Connecticut). A week ago, in my mentor group that Mark leads, we discussed

Yesterday, the "check engine" light of my car came on, and begrudgingly I took my car into my dealer (they're pretty good and don't overcharge) to get checked out.  Given that it was time for a number of "maintenance items" to hit on my car, a 9 year old (2004) Honda Accord, I decided to go ahead and get them knocked out.  I really enjoy not having a car payment and this car has at least 3 more good years left in it (and I'm pretty frugal). Turns out, they weren't able to get everything turned around today so I ended up getting a loaner (and for grins I did ask them what they would offer for a trade in... don't worry, very little chance I'm going to give up the margin I have right now).  Guess what I got, a CR-V!  That'd be the car I want to get when I eventually get a new car (I am big fan of mini-SUV crossovers and looked long and hard for one when I got my Accord).  This car rocks.. it definitely hasn't dissuaded me from the desi

I got up like I normally do this morning, but unlike most mornings I did not go to my coffee maker to make the morning java.  No, I didn't give up coffee (I hear some of you laughing)... I had my annual physical this morning, which means I get to give up luxuries like food and beverages (just "high quality H-2-0") from midnight until the yearly trial is over. Most of you reading this post have been through the annual medical physical.  I'm pretty happy that my insurance covers it at 100% now, but for most of us that's the only part of it we're really looking forward to.  It is a fairly invasive (both in the exams you have to go through and the questions they ask you) and somewhat awkward hour of your life.   This year was a little different for me, because during last year's exam my doctor had a "hmmm... that's interesting" experience when feeling around my thyroid gland, which resulted in a lot more doctors' visits; resulting in

Every morning when I get dressed, I open up my clothes drawer and grab a set of uniquely designed Gap boxers and get ready.  I didn't pay for a single pair of these... like many of you, I received them from my mom as Christmas gifts.  Every year... and I'll get a restock this year as well. I'm sure that most of you get some kind of "practical" gift every year from your mom (I've confirmed that my mom is part of a collective practical-gifter club that gives socks, underwear, etc. every year for Christmas).  And like many of you, I try to act emotionally up for the yearly "surprise" but I just don't feel it.  Do I hear an amen? However, every morning I would be lost without these gifts.  I wear them almost every day. Several (I couldn't tell you how many) months ago, an old girlfriend surprised me one day buying me a few ice cube trays to put in my freezer.  Yes - I don't have an icemaker in my freezer and didn't have any cube tra

To Luke Joekel and Jake Matthews: Congratulations on all you have accomplished at Aggieland to this point in your careers.  Our victory this weekend has a lot to do with how you were able to hold back the biggest, baddest defense in the nation and give our man Johnny time to work his magic.  You are the unsung (well, not really) heroes of the Aggie resurgence and I am very thankful to you for that. I'm sure you've heard, the NFL wants you this year.  Apparently Jockel, you could get drafted #5 or even higher, and Jake in the late first round (wouldn't it be cool to play in Houston like your dad?).  This is impressive for offensive tackles, especially two from the same team, to be considered.  It'd be the first time two offensive linemen would be drafted in the first round in almost 20 years, and you are both Juniors? So, trust me if I understand if you take the money.  You have a big opportunity ahead.  I've watched The Blind Side... I know how valued your tal

In light of my last post, I thought I would write something a little more thoughtful and less provocative. The reason I put my thoughts out yesterday is that I really am disillusioned with what appears to be a vast number of people voting for, really either candidate, that are voting based on image, score points in debates, or how the candidates look on TV.  Basically, the election has become some kind of popularity contest. I respect liberals who are voting their conscience, are thoughtfully paying attention to the issues, and really do want to see a stronger federal government in the economy.  There are very good reasons for these views, and while I disagree that this is the way to go I do respect them for having those views and share a lot of the dreams they have for cleaner air, better health, and more social justice. What's been interesting to me has been that basically this election has come down to this one question:  "Who is to blame for the situation we find ourse

I can imagine that I am not the only one that will be happy when Tuesday's election is complete, the political ads have been shuttered, and news stations across America will be freed up to talk about important issues like who will cast the next Star Wars movie versus unimportant things like the economy, the rise of terror in the "new Middle East," who's paying or not paying their so-called "fair share" of taxes to support our ginormous Federal bureaucracy (or Bureaucrazy!) in Washington, and the alleged and fictitious "war on women" Republicans want to wage. But seriously, Tuesday's vote may be one of the most important in decades... at least since 1980, perhaps 1932.  The visions and philosophies of the two candidates vying for the White House could not be more different.  However, I'm not certain if we're really (and I mean, really) voting based how the candidates would actually govern and what the government would actually look lik

For my Labor Day, my friend Craig and I drove from Austin to Fredricksburg, Texas to visit the Nimitz Pacific War Museum.  This is definitely a must-see; a museum of equal (or perhaps greater) quality of many in D.C. and around the country.  We spent about 4 hours here, and that was cutting the visit short.  There was a lot of stuff to see;  a biography of Admiral Nimitz himself, a large Memorial courtyard, a museum dedicated to the history of the World War II Pacific Theater and the events leading up to Pearl Harbor, and a guided tour of several bunkers that included equipment (planes, tanks, bunkers, etc.) that was actually used in the war.  It was quite the emotional and educational experience. And in the middle of all of these memorials to war, stands a small garden with a bonsai tree in the middle. This "Garden of Peace" was given to Admiral Nimitz by the Japanese as a "thank you" for returning to rebuild the war-torn Japan, to reconcile, and bring a las

In five short days, the Fighting Texas Aggies will be starting our first season playing in the SEC.  I believe that unless you talk to an Aggie not living in reality, that our first season in the league will be a little humbling, but I'm confident that we'll earn your respect, both on the football field and off of it.  9 days after our initial game, our first guest comes in... and given that 14 days is not a lot of time to prepare yourself to enter our promised land, I thought I'd give you a little guide into Aggieland so that you know us as we are getting to know you.  Also, these are some things you can keep in mind so that you enjoy (or at least not embarrass yourself :-) ) when you come to College Station. If you ask us about our mascots and think it's weird that we call ourselves Aggies, have yells that refer to us as "Farmers" and "Army," and also have the dog (Reveille's her name)... you may think that's weird... but remember that y

I've heard this song on my Pandora playlist this morning at the gym.  Catching the words "this is where the healing begins... when the light meets the dark" reminded me of the grace God has shown me in bringing me to the place of my brokenness to bring healing.  I posted the video and a snippet of the lyrics below. So you thought you had to keep this up All the work that you do So we think that you're good And you can't believe it's not enough All the walls you built up Are just glass on the outside So let 'em fall down There's freedom waiting in the sound When you let your walls fall to the ground We're here now (chorus) This is where the healing begins, oh This is where the healing starts When you come to where you're broken within The light meets the dark The light meets the dark Afraid to let your secrets out Everything that you hide Can come crashing through the door now But too scared to face all your fear So y

How many of you are excited about the Olympics.  I am!  My TV isn't on a lot, but it's been on to watch many of the Olympic events since the Games began last Friday.  Surprisingly, I like many of you are glued to watch sports that, for most of the four years in-between Olympics,  we normally wouldn't care much about. As many of you know, I studied marketing in graduate school, largely because I love psychology and understanding how people tick, and I have a fascination with good advertising.  One of the best ads I've seen while watching the Olympics (and one of the best I've ever seen), is one where different athletes are training for their events with the background narrative of... I can't remember the last time I watched TV. You know that best selling novel that everybody's talking about... I haven't read it. I haven't had dessert in over 2 years. These are the voices of people who have sacrificed tiny pleasures in order to pursue big dre

  “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins   and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?   And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’  In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” - Luke 15:8-10 About a week ago, I finally "bit the bullet" and bought myself a road bike to get  an additional avenue to exercise outdoors, spend time with my girl on regular active dates, and cross-train during my 13.1 training seasons.  Unfortunately, the weather and my schedule (I went to my high school reunion this past weekend) didn't really comply with me.  I was a little bummed, but I eventually got out and rode about 10 miles down Columns Drive.  Man - riding is definitely a different workout, it was really good but my quads are going to be a little sore tomorrow.   About 8-ish ton

This weekend, I once again PR'd (Personal Record for those that don't talk "runner" :-) ) another half marathon... saving a little over a minute off my previous PR in Savannah. Time:  drumroll please... 2:15:04! I love that.  It made me happy to say "PR" - I won't lie. This was really a great event... the final concert was a great touch and Nashville is always a great city to visit.  We all had a fantastic time. Of course, I did have a couple of musings from the race, other than "Hey, check me out... I got a PR" (even though I'm still happy about that) ---------- At mile 10, one of the bands playing was the worship band from the Belmont Baptist Church, which I really loved.  They were playing some great songs too... stuff you'd hear at NorthPoint during our Sunday times.  I was happy to see them play and witness like they did.  Note to the guy with the bullhorn at the Dogwood Festival... take notes from these guys and just

In 2 days and 1 morning, I will be making my way to Nashville for my third half marathon. Seems crazy, doesn't it?  It was only less than 3 years ago that I thought my running career may be over.  But praise God it is not.  In fact, I have two race metals from previous Rock-n-Roll events, and I'll be going after a third at the Country Music 1/2 this weekend.   But there's been one catch.   A week and a half ago, I started to develop some tightness in my right leg.  The kind of tightness, as I found, that is pulling on my knee and making running a pain.  Not fun.  As a result, I scheduled a couple of appointments with the incredible sports massage therapist that helped me recover from my achilles tendonitis injury last Fall.  This miracle worker, Sara (who works with players from the Hawks and Falcons) is freakin' incredible and knows how to get these things worked out. So today after work I was on the table and "the spot" (that pain in the glut

"When you are well prepared for your sermon, you cite a variety of sources, but when you aren't well prepared, you just quote CS Lewis."  The above quotation was something that I read in the Tim Keller book I am currently reading.  It was something that a guy that regularly listened to him preach observed about him.  When he explained "why this is so," Tim recalls that when he was first saved he really poured over a lot of CS Lewis's books, essays, and letters to the point that he was so familiar with Lewis that whenever impromptu situations arose, something of Lewis's thoughts, sayings, or philosophy would just naturally come out.  It was in fact, a default. And then he tied it to something that really caught me. What if that was true of us and Jesus? Do we know Jesus, what he would say, do, react... this intimately that when life throws us a curveball that what comes out of our lives just looks like Jesus?  When we are squeezed, or when we don&

About a month ago, my groups director introduced a group of us community group leaders to a tool, called "lifemaps", that we are using to tell our life story within our community groups.  I'll admit, I freaked out a little when I first saw it because this was a.) much more homework than just spilling my regular testimony to a group, and b.) required me to think about how things impacted me (and then go communicate it). But since then, I have shared mine with my new community group and we are using lifemaps to share our stories with one another.  After telling mine, and hearing a couple more stories (both in my mentor group where I've yet to go and in my community group where I led by being the guinea pig) I am a huge proponent of lifemaps.  For two reasons: 1.) It really gets us thinking about what life events shaped us, and allows us to make sense of some of the things that we may see as just "randomness."  At the end of the day, you look back at your l

http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2012/03/50_words_banned_from_nyc_schoo.html Try to count the number of banned words and references :-) ---------------------------------------------------------- Billy was heading home from school the day before Halloween and didn't have a costume planned out yet.  He thought about going as a ferocious dinosaur so he could roar and chase the girls, but opted to go with something less involved because he wanted to swim with his buddies at Kevin's (the friend whose hosting the party) parents' pool and of course he wanted to play XBOX and post pictures to Facebook on his iPad.  That would be really difficult wearing a dinosaur costume. Billy went a little too crazy eating chips and drinking Cokes at school, so he asked his mom to take him to a Walgreens to use the bathroom and there HE SAW IT.  The perfect costume!!!  At Walgreens?  Yes, I know... you can buy everything from cigarettes, beer, toy soldiers, and posters of Justin Bieb

Have you ever had one of those experiences where you buy a GroupOn or a LivingSocial to a restaurant that sounds uber-interesting, time passes, and 4 months later you look at your deal app on your phone and realize that you've got 3 weeks to use it? Yeah - that was me last week.  I saw this LivingSocial to a new Creole restaurant in Kennesaw that got some great reviews, and given my affinity for Cajun food and the lack of options in Metro-Atlanta I thought I'd give it a shot.  It was due to expire in a couple of weeks. So guess what, last night I took my girlfriend out to this place (don't worry, I bought it intending to take her :) ).   And here's my review of the place... in the spirit of the cute little old lady that reviewed her town's new Olive Garden in Grand Forks, ND.   (Don't worry - this place is one of a kind.  It's not a review of a ginormous national chain copied over 730 times across the nation.  I did smile when I read her little review a

I usually don't do this... I became a follower of Jesus Christ at a Baptist Church as a teenager, and before that wasn't really all that "religious" at all.  So, participating in what many (for good reason) consider a Catholic tradition (because it is) seems a little weird, but for some reason on Wednesday I felt God nudge me to give something up this year. I hope my Baptist friends don't hurt me ;-).  But I did give up something for Lent this year.  There are a lot of things about Catholic theology that I firmly disagree with, but this tradition is seriously something that I admire.  And honestly... we Baptists, while we are very solid on theology and doctrine are largely deficient in the arenas of self-denial and sacrifice.  This is something that I'd like God to work on me on; to deny myself for the sake of knowing Him more and allowing Him to mold me, so this is why I'm taking this leap. And I hope my friends that work at The Coca-Cola Company don&

A month ago, almost to this day, I had my thyroid removed.  My doctor found an unusual cyst in my thyroid during a physical and in a two month investigation process specialists advised me to have it taken out - since a biopsy could not determine whether the cells were cancerous or not (they were not!  Praise God!)  People that have rubbed shoulders with me know my story, and while I appreciate the advice to tell people a "I got mugged in a dark alley" story, it would just get debunked soon, so I'll continue telling the truth. The first five days after I had the surgery were pretty bad.  I slept all the time, I was moody, and I had some really bad heartburn.  And then things normalized somewhat... I'm out and about, I'm back at work and doing the same things I did before the surgery, and I'm getting started training for the Country Music 1/2 Marathon in April.  However, the initial dose of levoxil (the thyorid hormone replacement drug I use) is not adequate..