Showing posts with label fun. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fun. Show all posts

Saturday, November 17, 2012

29 things to know before you hit 30 (part 2)

crazy bummed about when i will turn 30. feels like it will be crossing a huge line that i desperately don't want to cross.

but at least i will be prepared after reading The Pocket Guide to Adulthood: 29 Things to Know Before You Hit 30
thanks to Jason Boyett for putting together a guide for peeps like me closing out their 20s to help us know what we need to know to be an old person.

(i already posted #s 1-5 HERE.)

6  Being all weird about food safety is a pretty good idea
wow. i DEFINITELY learned a lot from this chapter! i was breaking ALL these rules that were shared big time. i.e. - eating pizza that had been left in my hot car for a week!
not any more - because i'm about to be an old adult.

7  How to change a flat tire like a real live mechanic
this is the one mechanical thing i actually did know already. pretty much the only thing i can do.

8  Marriage is not necessarily a rowdy sex romp, and other misconceptions
wait, for real?
wait, is that after you turn 30 or before? :)

9  How to stop worrying and be an optimist
i really love being & so thankful i'm an optimist. but i still have to battle worry like everyone else. i need to work harder at relaxing too. (oxymoron?)

10  Establish your own coolness with an amazing card trick
now this was awesome. i've never really known a card trick. i love playing poker, but i've never really known how to do a trick. NOW I DO. so, someone please - ask me to see a card trick! or do i have to wait til i hit 30?


*that's only 10 down of the 29 things you have to know to be an old 30 year-old.
more coming tomorrow.
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Wednesday, April 18, 2012

you really should SMILE more

smiling is awesome. everybody likes a smile :)
actually, smiling makes us FEEL GREAT! seriously.

research proves that 1 smile can generate the same brain stimulation of eating up to 2,000 bars of chocolate. (but you don't get nearly as fat)
& a smile can stimulate the same good feelings as receiving $25,000 in cash!

did you catch that? has anyone ever walked up to you and handed you $25k in cash? well, the same kind of positive experience happens in your brain when you simply smile!

not only is it good for you, but smiles are CONTAGIOUS! 
have you ever tried to frown while someone was smiling at you? it's almost impossible!
i tried it on my daughter when she was barely even old enough to smile. all i'm doing in this short video is smiling at her & it causes her to smile back.
check how contagious it can be...

me smiling at her causes her to smile back.

i don't really know what bad can come from a smile? ever thought about that? like i've never heard a sad story or a tragedy or something bad resulting from a smile.

but for some reason in our culture we're a little stingy with a smile. that's dumb.
i say, give that stuff away man! it's free. it makes YOU feel better. it's contagious and will make someone else's day better.

maybe we'll even make a little bit better world, 1 smile at a time.

"I will never understand all the good that a simple smile can accomplish." 
- Mother Teresa
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Wednesday, January 18, 2012

never stop playing

“We don’t stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing.” 
– Wound & Wound Toy Store, Hollywood, California 

There's something beautiful about a child playing. 

the way they run 

and jump 

and just roll down a hill. 

they don't care about grass stains on their clothes. 

the way they laugh and don't care what they sound like.

the way they sing at the top of their lungs whether it sounds good or bad.

their big fat smiles when they're playing.

they play with abandon.

they enjoy life to the fullest.

and somewhere along the way we lose that. we "grow out of it". or is it the other way around? do we only "grow out of it" because we choose to stop playing. we're self conscious about what people see and think about us. 

we lose out on a lot of fun.

we stop smiling as much and laughing so loudly and playing with abandon.

i say never stop playing.
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Friday, December 2, 2011

let me go ahead & get this out of the way... again

'tis the season again. So, this is just your friendly reminder to please not write me a letter about writing "xmas" because you think i worship the devil and am in some kind of conspiracy to overthrow the world... just read this 1st.
merry xmas!
(This was originally posted on November 24th, 2009 HERE.)

OK, I thought it might be easier to just say this once and get it out of the way.

It is a lot easier and faster for me to write "xmas" than "Christmas". There, I said it and it's out of the way now.
So, when I am typing something quickly = a blog post, an email, a text, etc... I'm probably going to write "xmas" instead of "Christmas". (So don't be offended when you get an email or text from me with "xmas" in it.)

Lest you think I am some heartless atheist (or a devil worshipper) - it has NOTHING to do with "taking Christ out of Christmas" as lots of people say. It's not some "liberal" agenda to hijack this "Christian nation". It is simply 5 less letters to type. It's easier. That's all. I don't hate Jesus. In fact I love Jesus and am radically following Him as best as I know how.

In case you're curious "X" is actually the abbreviation for "Christ". Therefore xmas instead of Christmas. It's not "taking Christ out of Christmas", it's simply abbreviating.
* "X" is the 1st Greek letter in "Christ" (Xristou). That's why "X" is the abbreviation for Christ.
And that's why I hope you can understand that I'm not a devil worshiper just because I write "xmas".

And actually I think it's interesting in light of this topic that the ancient Hebrew scribes used to write YHWH to abbreviate God's Name because they wanted to revere His holy name and didn't think themselves worthy to even write all the letters - Yahweh... (we think).
[i wonder what they would think of us... actually writing the WHOLE name out. Would they think us irreverant or blasphemous? or even part of a conspiracy to overthrow the world?]

So, again, just to clarify = I'm going to write "xmas" instead of "Christmas", but not because I hate God, just because it's faster.

What about YOU? Do you write "xmas" or "Christmas"?
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Wednesday, August 24, 2011

my Dad did that

do you remember growing up how you were really proud of stuff your dad did and you let everyone know it?

for me, i can remember being really proud of the fact that my dad started his own car dealership. And every time i would be with someone and we would pass Wilgrove Auto Mart on Albemarle road i would say something like "my dad did that." or "my dad started that/runs that/ owns that." Then when it moved out to Independence Blvd/HWY 74 i would pass it all the time with people and still say "my dad did that. that's my dad's place." i remember the proud feeling.

...on a seemingly unrelated note...

i really hate it that the days are getting shorter.=
for me it really stinks to wake up and it still be dark outside. the summer was awesome because at least there would be some light outside when i woke up.

but i guess i can look on the "bright side" - at least i get to see the sun come up every single morning. and that daily sun rise the past few weeks is pretty amazing.

it's better than any art you've ever seen or more beautiful than anything you've imagined.
and i just stop and smile and think  
"my Dad did that."
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Tuesday, January 11, 2011

snow day 1/11/11

we had a lot of fun in the snow today.
And by "we" i mean the city of Charlotte. sounded like everybody was playing in the snow.

the beauty of having my office at home is that i can still get a lot of work done on a "snow day", but take a long lunch break and have fun out in the snow!

Check this snow fort that our neighbors built! pretty awesome. i was extremely impressed. The kids range from like 6 to 17. Their Dad told me they tried to talk him into letting them sleep in it last night : )

And of course Crystal and i busted out the old school wooden sled that i think belonged to one of my parents. lots of good memories on that sled. When the iced over street was just right we could fly down it. Later we actually took Jack Bauer (the dog) for a ride.
Not the greatest idea. he bailed!
we caught it on video, but i wish you could see what i saw in the moment = my dog doing a barrel roll off the sled and bouncing off his back on the ice!


he headed straight for the house and didn't want to ride the sled anymore! we're going to be horrible parents...
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Monday, September 6, 2010

final words

[This is a repost from February 20, 2008 Here. I actually ended up reading the book mentioned below on vacation just a couple weeks ago.]

This week I'm reading [re]Understanding Prayer: A Fresh Approach to Conversation with God by Kyle Lake.

It was shocking when Kyle Lake died a few years ago at only 33. He died while baptizing a new believer because of a freak accident with the heater in the pool & the mic. Kyle was the pastor at University Baptist Church in Waco, Texas. Chris Seay (now at Ecclesia) started the church back in '95 with David Crowder (who is still the worship pastor there).

Everyone that knew him said he had an enormous passion for life! Kyle always ended his sermons with the phrase: "Love God, Embrace Beauty, and Live Life to the Fullest." He was ready to speak the Sunday morning that he died... but never got to deliver that final sermon. His wife found it later on his computer and below is an excerpt from that talk he never got to deliver. BUT, it sure is powerful... and very WOW to think that he passed away the same day he was supposed to give this talk. I want to live my life with the same passion and fullness that values every moment like Kyle describes below. AWESOME reminder for me!

Live. And Live Well.

BREATHE. Breathe in and Breathe deeply. Be PRESENT. Do not be past. Do not be future. Be now.

On a crystal clear, breezy seventy-degree day, roll down the windows and FEEL the wind against your skin. Feel the warmth of the sun.

If you run, then allow those first few breaths on a cool autumn day to FREEZE your lungs and do not just be alarmed, be ALIVE.

Get knee-deep in a novel and LOSE track of time.

If you bike, pedal HARD... and if you crash, then crazsh well.

Feel the SATISFACTION of a job well done--a paper well-written, a project throroughly completed, a play well-performed.

If you must wipe the snot from your three-year-old's nose, don't be disgusted if the Kleenex didn't catch it all... because soon he'll be wiping his own.

If you've recently experienced loss, then GRIEVE. And grieve well.

At the table with friends and family, LAUGH. If you're eating and laughing at the same time, then might as well laugh until you puke.

And if you eat, then SMELL. The aromas are not impediments to your day. Steak on the grill, coffee beans freshly ground, cookies in the oven.

And TASTE. Taste every ounce of flavor. Taste every ounce of friendship. Taste every ounce of Life.

Because it is most definitely a Gift.

(Kyle Lake, 1972-2005)
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Saturday, August 7, 2010

it's been so long

when i was a kid i loved scary stuff. still do really. but as a young kid and all the way into high school i LOVED horror movies and i LOVED to read scary books. my favorite was the best, and he was so good that eventually he was the only author i read for great fiction novels!
yep... STEPHEN KING.

Say whatever you like about him = sick, dimented, twisted. yep, i totally agree. but, now you have to agree that he is unbelievably gifted and at least one of THE TOP 5 AUTHORS of our generation. (i would argue 1 of the top 2.)

he's one of the 2 or 3 greatest storytellers ever. as a teenager his stories mezmerized me! i read everything i could:
The Shining
The Dark Tower whole series about that crazy Gunslinger...
Pet Cemetary
The Dark Half - the most insane thing i've ever read!
The Dead Zone
IT 
Dreamcatcher
Needful Things

Misery - the last one i read around 17...
Tons more i read that i'll remember tomorrow. i think the last one i read was Misery around my senior year of high school. i haven't read one since. haven't really read fiction at all since 17 until my wife made me read Harry Potter (& i thank her for it!)

but i have been intrigued every since Stephen released his newest book about 9 months ago = Under the Dome

my wife was shopping for Christmas crap and somehow i got tricked into going to super Wal-mart with her. which meant i'm just basically walking around for hours because i'm a good husband. :)
we walked in the front door i saw King's new book as it was just released that week. i picked it up and thought "this will give me something to do."

you have to understand that i was passionate about Stephen King's books 10 years ago. now, i had long lost that passion and just picked it up to pass the time. BUT this book grabbed my imagination just like all the others and i was immediately sucked into this story that seemed like reality in a little town in... yeah, you guessed it, Maine.

i could not put that book aside for a second to see where i was walking. i bumped into like 3 aisles. i wanted to buy it really bad but it wasn't in the budget. (new release hardbacks are so expensive!)

last week i saw it was a new release in paper back and fairly cheap. i started reading reviews from the NY Times and USA Today. They were saying things like this was Stephen King's best book since The Stand AND "The best ever from the best ever."

wait a minute... the best ever from Stephen King... the best ever author. whoa. that got my attention.
i read all about how it has a major agenda and it's not just fiction. it's big time political, ecological, and of course about HUMANITY and our struggle with right and wrong, good and evil, moral choices and what mankind will do in certain situations.

i read an article Stephen himself wrote that he started writing the book in 1976 but quit after 75 pages and now he went back at it over 30 years later!

i had a Borders gift card from my ordination at Ridge Church. so the day before we left for vacation i bought it because i was just sucked into the greatness of the story from one of the greatest storytellers!

it's 1,100 pages! a BEAST. i'll never read it except on vacation when there is no work to be done. i'm reading the next Harry Potter 1st, but then i might read Under the Dome next.
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Friday, August 6, 2010

my life and wife (repost)

(This is a repost from January 2nd, 2008. my 2nd post ever.)
There is at least 1 good thing they taught me in college that I still remember – “happy wife, happy life.” (because “if momma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.”) I grew up hearing Bill Wyman sing “if you wanna be happy for the rest of your life never make a pretty woman your wife.” BUT that’s some horrible advice. God hooked me up with an amazingly beautiful wife (who’s the best cook I know) + I’m happy and have no doubt I will be for the rest of my life. Sorry, Bill, it’s just not true.

I am trying to honor God and spread His renown by my relationship with my smokin’ hot wife. God says that the way I love my wife is supposed to be a picture of the way Jesus loves the church. That’s a lot to live up to. She’s comes 2nd only to Jesus and before everything else including my job, ministry, wants, etc…
And that’s pretty easy because I’ve got the greatest wife in the world. She was designed specifically to be my wife and to be able to put up with me. I can pretty much be a pain to live with, but she does it gracefully and without complaining. She is the sweetest woman I know, but if you mess with me she will jack you up!

It’s pretty awesome that we get to have a date night every Friday night & Friday also doubles as our “rest in God day” (Sabbath). We usually just go out to dinner and see a movie or hit up a pumpkin patch or camp out by the fire and watch some old episodes of Friends.

My wife is definitely the coolest. I can be myself with her like with no one else. I’m free to just be me. I don’t need to put on a show or try to be someone I’m not. And she’s cool with that (except sometimes in public when my ADD kicks in). She is honestly my best friend in the whole world. It makes me happy to make her happy!

We’ve known each other since we were 12 when she moved here to Charlotte from NY. Here’s the romantic version: when she first moved here we each happened to be out shopping for Christmas trees with our families. I was carrying our tree and her dad was carrying their tree—and the two of them somehow got tied together! No joke. The rest is history. Well, sort of. We started dating like 5 years later in High School and through college and then were married 8/5/05.

She loves her new puppy Jack Bauer (that she begged me for a year to get and I finally caved in because… say it with me = “happy wife, happy life.”) She is a Nurse at Carolina’s Medical Center – University… after being downtown for over 2 years. (She’s actually received the Nurse of the Year award 2 years running… so what if I am the only judge? Did you guys know there’s actually such a thing as Nurse’s Day??! You learn fast when you’re married to one.) She loves to help people, give people gifts, and just love people… which I think is pretty cool. She’s a 24 fan like me, but also likes dumb shows like Grey’s Anatomy, ER, & Dr. Phil. (I don’t need hate mail from all the girls that love those shows… they’re just not for me.)
God has hooked us up in crazy ways. We’re blessed with a sweet house filled with free furniture. It’s like we should be on the ghetto poor version of MTV Cribs. We both have great families and God’s given us so much and we’re so thankful for it all. I feel like I could write a book on how good God has been to Crystal and me.

We’ve jumped in with a brand new church plant called Ridge Church (which I’ll write more about later). God birthed a passion in me to spread His fame a few years ago and I’ve never been able to shake it. I feel that He is leading us to eventually start a revolution among unreached people groups (probably in Sub-Saharan Africa). God can do whatever He wants but that’s where He's leading right now - hopefully to rock a region with a revolution for His renown! I know it probably sounds pretty audacious… but more on that another time too.

Basically, my wife and life are the best. I’m lovin’ it. I’ve found… SATISFACTION… God gets all the credit for that.
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Tuesday, August 3, 2010

vacation reading list


still on the beach lovin' life! this is awesome.

i mentioned i plan on reading a lot. maybe you like to read on vacation and maybe you have one coming up? below are the books i'm taking on vacation this year.
(a new record! i limited the amount of books i'm taking to SINGLE digits! i'm weird with books and always take a ton because i never know what i'll feel like reading on a particular day...)

FICTION - i don't read fiction really. not since i was a 6th grader. starting last year i give myself like 1 fiction book per year to read. On the list for this year is the 2nd Harry Potter book - The Chamber of Secrets. (i read the 1st one last year.) then i'm also taking #3 in case i get hooked and just have to read the next one... (even though it's not on my 2010 list).

[i've got another fiction book i just bought that's not on my 2010 list, but i may just crack it open on vacation. i'll post about it in a couple days in a post called "it's been so long".
the rest of these books are on my 2010 reading list...]

BIOGRAPHY - i can't remember the last time i read a biography, but i'm taking one that i'm excited to read. The biography of George Muller. it's pretty thick... i think because he lived a life that demanded telling a lot of stories about. when i finish i bet he will be my new hero. (George is even rockin' a faux hawk in this pic!)

LEADERSHIP - i don't do any work while on vacation, but i am taking Maxwell's Developing the Leaders Around You with me in case i'm just aching for some leadership stuff.

others:
[Re]Understanding Prayer - by Kyle Lake that i'm a good bit through already.
Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ - Piper
A New Kind of Christianity - the latest from Brian McLaren that i've cracked into a little.
The Next Christendom - Phillip Jenkins. i know the concept but am intrigued to read the actual book.

*Oh and 1 other important book i am bringing along that i guess would be in the tutorial or educational section.
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Monday, August 2, 2010

2 great books by Luke & Matt

by the time you read this we are enjoying our vacation already in beautiful Punta Cana! i wrote about our vacation yesterday HERE.

1 of my 2010 goals was to dig and try to really understand The Gospel. the 1st part of that plan was going to read each gospel separately in 1 sitting. i think through and write out my initial thoughts after reading it like a novel and try to capture the author's heart and what he's really trying to say.

life has been so busy that i've only been able to do that with Mark and John's gospels so far. (1 on a day out at Lake Norman and 1 on a cruise to Cozumel... i really like to read the Bible around water!)

so, on this vacation i am going to be reading Matthew & Luke in 1 sitting on different days out on the beach in the Caribbean. i can't wait.
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Sunday, August 1, 2010

we're going on vacation!!!

Yep, Crystal and i are going on an almost 2 week vacation. we'll be celebrating our 5th anniversary of being married! pretty crazy...

we've never been on a vacation this long, but we are SOOOO looking forward to it!

for us, vacation is a non-negotiable.
when i work, i work really hard (or at least i try to). i put everything into my work and i work a lot.

but when i rest (like on my weekly sabbath), i really go all out and do no work. So, on this vacation i won't have a laptop, i won't be checking emails or voicemails or texts... i won't have anything to connect me to work (except for my brain and i'm going to try to shut that down too).

When i can truly disconnect from work i come back to my job (which is also my passion) much SHARPER and very REJUVENATED. My ideas are better and i'm more excited to do it!
after a nice relaxing vacation i do my job way better.

+ my body just needs a vacation. very badly. my brain, my work and stress levels all need a break.
and i really just need some ALONE time with my wife. 2 weeks in a romantic place with NO agenda. that's what we need and we're excited to just be with each other 24-7 for a while with no one else around.

we're going to Punta Cana and staying at an all inclusive resort that is adults only. it's gonna be amazing. we don't even need to leave the place if we don't want to. i'm told it's somewhere out in the Caribbean. but honestly i don't care. i just want my beautiful wife and a beautiful beach to be there and i'm good.

So, on my vacation i plan to:
1  sleep... a lot. basically as much as i want! no more 6am alarm every day. i'm gonna be LAZY for 2 weeks so i can not be lazy for the next 50.

2  spend a lot of awesome quality time with my God and my Creator in His beautiful creation. for me, time with God on the beach is like none other. it's amazingly intimate, experiential, mystical, deep, and sometimes ecstatic.

3  spend a lot of time with my gorgeous and amazing wife. She's my best friend and i like nothing better than to spend all my time with her!

4  read. that's just what i like to do at the beach. read... a lot. but i'll talk more about that in tomorrow's post!

5  have fun & eat way too much.

*So, i'm out for 2 weeks. i'll talk to some of you when i return. **There will still be daily posts on renown! there will be another guest blogger + i have several articles i just wrote that are set up to post, so keep checking in daily.
peace
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Saturday, July 31, 2010

10 peeps @ my man cave party

Catch up on these parties i'm throwing in my "man cave" HERE.

We're winding these parties down and i've had a fun time with these 10 dead people i would love to hang out with HERE and the 10 fictional people HERE. Now, today are my 10 living, breathing people i would love to hang out with in my man cave for a day. This list only includes people i've never had the privilege to hang out with before:

bono - he has to be tops on the list. too much in his favor. The front man for my favorite band of all time who write some of the best songs ever + he's Irish (as are my ancestors) + he's freaking awesome as he fights for social justice for the poor in Africa. everybody loves this guy. i would love to hang out with him.

louie giglio - this guy and bono are pretty close. Louie is like my spiritual hero. he has been one of the most influential spiritual "mentors" in my life! i've actually been able to meet Louie, but never hang out. i'd love to talk with this guy because he is one of my favorite visionaries ever. my heart resonates with most everything he says and his view of God captivates me every time.

chris rock - this is more left over from my child hood. he was the funniest man alive. i used to memorize his monologues. (probably not the best things to memorize.) you have to have a hilarious guy like Chris at every party!

derek jeter - the Yankees captain. and i love the Yankees and always have. Derek has been my favorite baseball player ever since the last Yankees captain retired, Don Mattingly (who owned the title of my fav player from the time i was born to around 13.) He will always be a Yankee and he has led us to so many World Championships. he's the face of this dynasty.
dave ramsey - this guy's simple philosophy changed our lives. So, i'd love to host him in my man cave. i would let him beat me in pool because we owe him our financial livelihood. i've had the privilege to meet him and tell him thanks before. i'd love to hear him telling all these other guys what to do with their money.

brain mclaren - one of my favorite writers. i love this guy and i think he knows the future we're heading into better than most anyone. i would LOVE to sit with this guy and ask him questions for a few hours. + he & dave ramsey could almost be twins!

alan shearer - the greatest player ever for my favorite soccer team ever = Newcastle United. Shearer was the man during the Magpies' glory days (at least in my lifetime.) he was my 1st ever favorite soccer player when i first fell in love with the beautiful game. He was Newcastle's captain and England's captain. too bad he didn't work out as the Magpies manager.

john piper - another of my favorite authors who has really shaped my view of God. i owe my view of the Greatness and Glory of God to Piper who opened my eyes to how amazing and BIG God is. i would love to have a conversation with him!

matt morginsky - the front man for my #1 band when i was in high school and even into college. The O.C. Supertones! (who are actually making a comeback.) this guy wrote the best stuff and he could flow for sure. saw them front row several times. he could just rock for us during the party in theman cave.

Bishop Desmond Tutu - i guarantee this guy has got some stories from some crazy times in Rwanda! i would love to hear about how he resolved to continue to show love even though there was so much unspeakable hate and violence all around him.

that's my 10 i would love to hang out with.
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Thursday, July 29, 2010

10 FICTIONAL people i would hang out with

Catch up on these parties i'm throwing in my "man cave" HERE.

if i could hang out with any 10 FICTIONAL people for a day, here's who i would invite:
Jack Bauer - Listen, Jack Bauer is the freaking man. He is the biggest pimp of all time. He is 1 of only 3 people i've ever wanted to "be". and the other 2 are the next 2 names below. (i wrote about that once HERE.) he is the hero of all heroes. i'm sticking with Jack. no doubt. (we even named our dog after him.)

John McClane - this is who i wanted to be as a little kid while growing up watching the Die Hard movies with my dad. John is like Jack Bauer from 20 years ago. a lot more "make shift". a lot more rough around the edges. it's never pretty. he's always covered in blood. John McClane is the man! i wouldn't mind seeing him & Jack Bauer go at it.

Chandler Bing - Chandler Bing would have to be like the funniest guy to hang out with. non-stop laughing. This is the guy i wanted to be when i was like 13. If you're not a Friends fan then you may not know who Chandler is. "Look at me, I'm Chandler... could i BE wearing any more clothes?"

Cal Lightman - i'm pretty sure this guy is based on a real person i read about in Blink. Cal Lightman in the TV show Lie to Me is THE MAN! he is amazing. his British accent just makes him that much cooler. his personality makes me love him. OH! and did i mention he can read your micro-expressions on your face and tell exactly what anyone is thinking at any given time! he is amazing and would be crazy at the man cave party.

Maverick (Pete Mitchell) - This is the guy i idolized as a really little kid. i memorized Top Gun line for line. Maverick was so cool. the haircut, the flying suit, the sunglasses... i started drinking ice water as a 6 year old because that was Maverick's drink. (now that's all i drink out of habit.) he was the epitome of "cool".

Danny Ocean & Rusty Ryan - These 2 are the leaders of "Ocean's Eleven". what an awesome crew. these guys are awesome leaders. in my college years these guys were really the "epitome of cool!" i remember saying MANY times that if these guys came to my house and recruited me that i would be IN in a heart beat. even though they're criminals! that's crazy i know. (but i've even said it a few times since i gave my life to Jesus and became a pastor! Don't tell anyone that.)

Harry Potter - i said FICTIONAL people remember. c'mon, Harry is cool. i hope he would bring his broom and wand to the man cave. i say "Voldemort" too, Harry.

Michael Scofield - There are some REALLY smart people in this group = Doctors, Wizards, and the smartest con man of all time (danny ocean) BUT Scofield is the smartest and most genius of them all. after breaking out of the toughest prisons in the world i would want him helping me plan everything.

Jack Shephard - with all these guys above, we'll have to have a doctor in the house! because you can pretty much guarantee that someone will get hurt. and what better doctor to do surgery with a poker chip, a ping pong paddle, and thread from pool table felt than Jack Shephard himself. The hero from the greatest ever written TV show.

Can you imagine this mix hanging out in the "man cave"? it would be straight up crazy!
That's my 10 i would invite.
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Wednesday, July 28, 2010

10 dead people i would hang out with

you can catch up on this whole idea in yesterday's post HERE.
i hope starting with this one doesn't seem creepy... like i'll have a basement full of ghosts. i think after you get into it you'll see how awesome it would be!

OK, here's my invite list/ wish list:

George Muller - i'm reading his biography this year. this guy was awesome. i want to start orphanages the rest of my life just like he did, so i would love to talk with him about that. + i would hope that in 1 night in the man cave his unbelievable faith would rub off on me at least a little.

William Wallace - you know... Braveheart! this guy was the coolest. everybody wants to be like William Wallace, right? well, at least i always have. i just want to hang out with a guy as passionate as he was. maybe he could pass out some blue face paint to everyone?

Jim Elliot - he was the missionary to the Auca people who were unreached with the gospel. Later he and his team were martyred by those people that God had called them to love and spread His fame to. For me Jim is representative of the probably millions of missionary martyrs throughout history. i've read a few biographies on Jim and also his journal. what an amazing guy... yet he was just this normal college kid at Wheaton. God just did amazing stuff in his heart. pretty cool.

Harriet Tubman - there is such a HATRED inside of me for racism. sometimes it makes me wish i was alive 100 and 200 years ago so i could FIGHT IT when it was even more outrageous. Harriet fought it hard core and helped to beat it through her "underground railroad." She had such courage and saved the lives of so many slaves. if i would have been alive in the 1800s i hope that i would have found her and helped her cause. and now i'd just love to hang out with this lady.

Paul (not really sure his last name or if he had one... but they also called him Saul.) - you know, the Apostle who wrote half the New Testament. supposedly the 1st foreign/ cross-cultural missionary of the Church. That's what i want to do, so who better to hang out with than the very 1st one who really paved the way. Plus, you know this guy has some pimp stories to tell!

Mother Teresa - how could you not have her on the list? what a selfless servant. one of the greatest examples of loving and serving Jesus via the "least of these" in the modern era. plus i think she and my grandma would get along :)

David Livingstone - the famous pioneer missionary to Africa. he was like the 1st Westerner to land on the continent & go into the interior! he was also a Doctor. i really want to talk to this guy. he's remembered as such a famous missionary who pioneered the way for God's fame to be spread to the people of Africa... but he only saw 1 convert in his life time! wow. can you imagine giving your life to God's cause and only seeing that "little fruit". but now look at the continent and the legacy he left behind. i'm down with God using me like that.

(*These final 3 are my grandparents who all passed away when i was a child.)
Robert Hennessee - This was my mom's dad who died when i was 6 or 7. All of my family say i am most like him. they say i look a little like him, act like him, talk like him, and my personality is most like him. i'm honored because he was a great man. i hear he was a great storyteller. (plus his grandfather - Patrick O'Hennessey - came over from Ireland. I'd love to hear some passed down stories from the crazy Irishman i was named after.) i regret that i didn't get to know him better.

Estelle Hennessee - this lady had a heart of gold. i used to stay with her all the time in the summers toward the mountains of NC after her husband (Rob) had died. She was just full of love... for everyone really. She definitely loved Jesus. She came to live with us after lung cancer started to take over her body. looking back, i'm really thankful for those months i got to spend with her day after day in our home.

Louis Mitchell - This was my dad's Dad. He died when i was 10. if i had to describe him in 1 word i would say "FUN".
i really wish my wife Crystal could have met him and i really wish he could meet her. i think he would just constantly be having fun with us! i think he and i might get along the best. we got along great when i knew him as a younger kid. his personality was infectious. he was all about positive thinking and i remember him passing that down to me when i was around. he would be a lot of fun in the man cave.

(OK, now i'm tearing up a little after thinking and writing about those last 3, so i better step out of this Starbucks i'm writing in.)


sitting around with these 10 people, can you imagine the STORIES that would be told in 1 evening? it would be awesome.

*That inspires me to live a life worth telling stories about.

Tomorrow will no doubt be the "FUNNEST" list of 10 people!

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Monday, July 26, 2010

10 people i would like to hang out with

i had this thought a couple years ago =  
"if i could go out to dinner and invite any 10 people, who would i invite?"

great question, huh?

That's what i'm going to be writing about the next few days here on renown. Except, dinner is kind of boring and with 11 people around big a table eating food it might be a little hard to "hang out" with and talk to everyone.
SO, instead of dinner i would probably just invite them to hang out in the "man cave" for a day. my "man cave" is simply my big basement with lots of "man toys" like a pool table, ping pong table, foosball table, poker table, couches, TV, dartboard, etc... That would be a much better environment to talk with all 10 people throughout the evening. i can envision great conversations around the poker table, watching a game together on TV and having some fun...

And it's not just 1 group of 10 people anymore. I've split it into 3 groups:
10 Dead people
10 Fictional people
10 living breathing people

so, check out renown the next 3 days to see the 10 people i would want to hang out with!

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Saturday, May 22, 2010

who is this shawty?

the other day i turned to my wife and said "i'd like to meet this Shawty."

Seriously, who is this guy? EVERYBODY is talking about her/him.

He's the guy with "fire burnin on the dance floor." i know she's an "eeny, meeny, miny, mo lover" and she definitely gets "low low low low"

but, who is she? definitely from the ATL i'm pretty sure. what's he look like? what's her last name?

(hopefully you can sense my sarcasm)
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