Tag: general

I find Thee enthroned in my heart, my Lord Jesus.?Ǭ† It is enough.?Ǭ† I know that Thou art throned in heaven.?Ǭ† My heart and heaven are one.

Alistair MacLean

I couldn’t resist sharing the the world this guy my buddy Zach and I ran into while hiking a local Mesa trail. Note the gardener’s gloves, the baseball cleats, and the old cut-up t-shirt headband. Imagine a wealth of local hiking knowledge shared by a hard-to-understand German (I think) accent. Good stuff.

My buddy Shawn scored 4 tickets to the DBacks home opener tonight from a radio contest (I guess there are actual winners to those things!). What makes him my buddy is that he invited me as one his guests. Here’s a view from our seats. And the diamondbacks didn’t really show up they lost to the Rockies. Oh well maybe next year….or the year after that…or the….

I just learned via the East Valley Tribune (our local paper) that Margie Frost, a local pioneer for the underpriviledged and disenfranchised in the East Valley, died today.?Ǭ† Margie was a local hero of mine who fought for the rights and needs of the homeless and was the founder and director of the East Valley Men’s Center – a redemptive shelter for homeless men who wanted to get back on their feet.?Ǭ† Marge served the needs of the poor and homeless for the past 35 years in various capacities.?Ǭ† I had the pleasure of meeting Margie a few months back and had the even bigger pleaseure of getting a hug from this sweet woman. Here is the articleabout her passing:

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=62817?Ǭ†

Last night was a night that us Phoenicians have been anticipating for 66 games. Amare Stoudamire returned to the floor after having surgeru on his knee before the start of the season. There was speculation here in Phoneix that perhaps he wasn’t ready and that he might not return in time for the playoffs. I guess that was all BS. Stoudamire had 20pts and 9 rebounds in just 19 minutes last night in his return. Just in time to too to make a run for a championship – it might actually happen this year. As Kellen likes to yell at any basketball game on tv, suns or not, nba or college, “Go Suns!”

I hate busyness.?Ǭ† There was once a time where I found importance in how busy my schedule or how many meetings I had in one week.?Ǭ† That time is long gone.?Ǭ† I have been so busy lately.?Ǭ† So busy that I feel like my body is moving ahead of my heart.?Ǭ† I have no time to rest, no time to enjoy the silence, no time to smell the roses, no time to recognize God, no time to laugh without abandon, not time to play Halo2, no time to go sailing, no time at a cafe in my city and watch and learn, no time to rekindle the romance of my marriage, not time to deeply look into my kids eyes and with a glance explain my heart to them, no time to wonder, no time to create, no time to explore my new/old home. I have missed these things.

There is time for agenda, and calendar, and expectation, and meetings, and planning.?Ǭ† Stuff I love, but in moderation.?Ǭ† And right now I feel incapabe of moderating.?Ǭ† Thus they dominate.?Ǭ† They pillage the wonder, the adventure, the awe.?Ǭ† And I become a shell of myself with eyes like a deer in headlights.

I don’t like it, i don’t like it one bit.

Why is busyness like a drug.?Ǭ† Why am I addicted to being busy?

We Phoenicians have been rocking the rain dance for months now. If you haven’t heard, it had been 143 days since we had seen any measurable rain in the “valley of the sun”. We had gone almost five months since we tasted rain – until today. And it has rained all day long. We are loving it – and thankful for it.

My friend Josh and I went to a Giants/Angels Spring Training game (one of the perks of living in Phoenix). The game was pretty packed because Barry Bonds was there. If you have been asleep in recent days (or just don’t care about sports), Barry Bonds is the focus of a upcoming book entitled, Game of Shadows, by Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams (read an excerpt here) that blows away any thought that maybe, just maybe, Bonds wasn’t on the juice. As Barry came to the plate, I got my “booooooooo” face ready to greet the cheater. I was half-surprised that he even dare show his face in a baseball stadium under the circumstances. As I “booed” at the top of my lungs, I was shocked that my “boo” was drowned out by cheers. Cheers! These fans actually cheered the biggest cheater the game of baseball has ever known! I was speechless. What does this say about the game of baseball? What does this say about the state of humanity that we would rather see a monster homerun by a cheater than the integrity of the “American pastime” restored by not giving Bonds an ounce of additional glory. Call it a career Barry and stop embarrassing the game of baseball any more.

Imagine the World Cup but with an actual game – baseball. Flags were waving, Mexicans were chanting, and Chase Field was rocking for the first Team USA game of the World Baseball Classic. It wasn’t much of a game – USA 2, Mexico 0 with both runs scored but solo homeruns, but it was all about the experience. You jealous?