Vampires!!!!

Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me.

Ok, that's gross. It takes on a different kind of visual image after reading the Twilight series about vampires and their insatiable thirst for human blood.

Remember, the people to whom he was speaking didn't have centuries of understanding to realize that Jesus was being metaphoric here. He just straight up said...you gotta eat my flesh and drink my blood. Make a meal out of me the Message Translation says. This freaked them out a bit. In fact, the disciples responded with "This is tough teaching...too tough to swallow (I'm sure no pun intended)"

Well....there was never a promise that following Jesus would be easy. In fact...just the opposite was promised...got that? PROMISED!!

See...I've had difficulties in life but never any real HARD times.

Until lately that is. My sister-in-law, in her recent Fight Club blog wonders "Would God destroy our homes to show us what really matters? One of my friends says God is not that manipulative, but I wonder if manipulative and sovereign could be synonymous when it comes to God."

I kind of think God knows the desire of our hearts and he grants them when they line up with his will. So, even though what was visible to others about my life looked more like a typical person that wanted to gain a foot up in life and have more stuff, the reality was that my heart craved a sold out life for God. I think he saw that and began to allow the stuff... the props in my life to begin to crumble. He began destroying my "home" to show me what really mattered. When we decided to really give God control of our life and see what would happen....It got HARD. Frankly...when we decided to allow God to teach us his principles and begin living within our means, our pretty little life we had created began to turn to ashes. We have lost a car and a motorcycle to reposession. We are driving a 12 year old vehicle that was given to us and our home will either be lost to short sale or foreclosure, whichever comes first. And we will be spending up to 4 years repaying a massive amount of accrued debt while we fight the overwhelming urge to give in to the easy option of falling back into debt. We decided to stop sacrificing our future...and our current effectiveness for Christ to gain present stuff.

We are actually excited about what God is going to do with us and through us as we allow ourselves to line up with "to live is Christ and to die is gain". We are dying with the excitement of the resurrection that will follow.

We foresee current effectiveness for Christ as we live below our means...and a future of being conduits of large blessing to others as we mantain the focus of earning to give.

We sing a song at church that has a great line in the chorus..."May the vision of you be the death of me" The more we see Christ...the more we die.

I had someone recently say that they were impressed with how we are handling our present circumstances. Well, to be honest...it's not that much different than the disciples response to Jesus' call for them to become bloodsucking vampires. He asked them "will you leave too?" Their response was not laced with awe inspiring devotion. They simply said "where else do we have to go?" Have you offered your life to God for inspection and the burning away of EVERYTHING that hinders you from a sold out life for God? Are you empty enough to respond to Leonard Sweets question - "Can the church stop its puny, hack dreams of trying to "make a difference in the world" and start dreaming God-sized dreams of making the world different? Can the church invent and prevent, redeem and redream this future?"

Has your life been stripped to the point of truly having no other option but to throw yourself headlong and wholeheartedly into HIS vision for your life? To say...what other option do I have but you and all of you?

It hurts....but in the words of John Mellencamp...."It hurts so good"

Do you have the faith to obey? Rom 1:5

The Long Awaited Presidential Fatherhood Blog

Whether a kid can recognize or not...or be willing to admit it or not, he wants the approval of his Father. I have learned that kids need to hear 3 things. I love you. I'm proud of you. And...You're good at (fill in the blank). It's important to know your father believes these three things about you.

There have obviously been study after study shown about the importance of a father in the life of his son and absentee fathers are to blame for a lot of the problems in our nations and prisons. However, it's important to note that many fathers are present in their children's lives and it doesn't make a difference in their son's behavior..or a father is absent and the son goes on to live a fruitful and productive life of greatness.

Newsweek magazing has dwelt on an important observation recently regarding Barack Obama and John McCain. All presidents for that matter. The magazing has observed that most presidents had either an absent father or a high achieving powerful father figure. And in Barack's case... a little of both.

The issue isn't really pertinent to the current presidential debate, but does make me wonder why it is that presidents seem to be spawned from either absent fathers of powerful fathers. The obvious observation is that those with absent fathers are trying desparately to prove their value and worth apart from that upbringing. Almost as if to say "see I can do it on my own I didn't need you anyway" in order to mask the pain of the absence. And those with a powerful father figure seem to be trying desparately to live up to those expectations...either real or imagined.

The core issue though...is what are you as a father (or mother, cousin, uncle, mentor, friend) doing to make sure someone can look up to you and use your example as a launching pad into greatness. It also highlights the importance you have to those that look to you.

Jacob and Esau were desparately fighting for approval from their father. They both wanted the blessing of their father (there were monetary ramifications of this, but at the core, they wanted the approval of their father). They also wanted to please their father. Esau, in Genesis 28, found that his parents would be displeased if his brother married a Caananite. Esau then went, and in addition to his other wives, married a grandaughter of Abraham in order to garner their pleasure. Even as an adult, he was willing to go to great lengths to receive approval from his father.

Are you living a life worthy of having someone seek your approval? Are you allowing those over whom you have influence to be able to reflect off of you and become greatness? I urge you to understand the impact you have. Be a present AND powerful influence in the lives of your children. Live in a way that they can become presidential. That they can be "impacters" in the Kingdom of God as they live as ambassadors in this worldly kingdom. They can be great....but a lot of it depends on your life.

Persistence

I was listening to the Mack, Jurko and Harry show on ESPN 1000 radio the other day. Once a week they have Cubs second basemen Mark Derosa (De row) on the show.

He has become well known in Chicago for not avoiding questions and always having great stories to share. He was responding to a question regarding pitcher Ted Lilly. He recalled a playoff game last year when a particular player went yard on Ted Lilly and Lilly responded in a Bad News Bears-esque manner throwing his mitt on the ground. Early this year Lilly was facing the same hitter and delivered an identical low, inside fast ball and was taken long again. DeRosa approached the mound and said "last year he took you deep on a low inside pitch. He just did it again. I think he has your low inside stuff figured out." Lilly just scowled at him and said "I'm bringing it again next time I face him!"

Often, pitchers like Lilly are described as Bulldogs. Reminds me of a story my dad tells about an English Bulldog he had as a kid. It would go in the pig pen and bite the Boar on the tale. The boar would spin in circles, lifting the bulldog off his feet, and slam the bulldog into the side of the barn. The bulldog would hit the ground and in one leap would have the boar's tail in his mouth again.

There is something about stupid persistence that is quite noble sometimes. Like my friend, Scott's father who would pack his lunch, walk to work every morning and return home every evening in order to support his family. Or my friend Thad, who was too stubborn to give in to his disability but steadfastly, persistently held on to God's promise of healing and left the wheelchair and is still independent to this day. Maybe it's like my old Bible College friend I recently reconnected with that has lived his life in a massive struggle of identity of self and reconciling that to his faith. Who has made the courageous decision to truly deny himself, against seemingly every fiber of his being, and offer his body as a living sacrifice to God. Or perhaps the inner city worker who sees one young person after another succumb to his surroundings only to get up another day and work with yet another young person that might be spared. Maybe it's the single mom who gives her life to her children and sets aside all her desires and comforts to provide for them. Maybe it's like Jacob who was deceived and cheated yet was too persistent to give up and worked another 7 years for his true love Rachel. Maybe it's my son Karston who gets up every day and goes through a routine of medications and interruptions in his day just to function with his disability. Maybe it's what I need to remember and learn from my son, that I just need to get up every day and keep on grinding, because the blessing is in store.

How about you? In what area of your life do you need to just keep firing low inside fastballs regardless of how many times life takes you yard? Do you have the courage to be a stupid, persistent bulldog? Let me know how and where you can be more bulldogish in your life.

Me And Animals Part II

So....here is the end of the story, the part which prompted my wife to incorrectly and slanderously claim that I "flailed my arms like a girl".

My grandmother, Nanoo (yep, the one who's cow attacked me) is visiting for several weeks. So, we were over to visit. We had a nice meal on the patio and hung out for a while and ended the evening by watching a movie. It was quite late and I had to be at work the next day so we began loading up our crew to go. All of the kids were either asleep or very tired and it's become a bit of a tradition for my parents to carry the kids out to the van and buckle them in and do hugs and kisses. So, my father was walking out the front door carrying my 6 year old Josiah and I was right behind them. They went out the door first and I was right behind them when my dad looked at the door jamb and said "Oh look there's a frog" So, I looked. And this is when it all began. You see, I have a real issue with small critters. I would rather face the cow all over again than a charging squirrel. Thanks to Alfred Hitchcock I have a real issue with birds flying too close to me out of fear that they will either peck my eyeballs out while I lie squirming on the ground, or that they will steal something valuable of mine like the peacock in Florida that stole my giant chocloate chip cookie when I was a kid. When I was a teenager our cat chased a chipmunk into the house and I nearly lost all control of my bladder.

I would say that given the choice I would rather wrestle a Kodiak bear the size of Gentle Ben than have to deal with an angry bunny rabbit.

So...that should give some context to the rest of the story.

As I see this frog crawling up the door jamb from the corner of my eye my dad says "Ooh (which was a bit girlie in my opinion) it's a rat" OOHHH MMMYYYY GGGGOOODDD there's a rat within a foot of me and it's just high enough on the doorjamb to facilitate an easy leap onto my head to bore into my ear and feast on my brain while I die a slow painful neurologically torturous death. Granted...it's the size of a tree frog but PLEASE can't I choose to have a pregnant angry cow charging me??!!! If that freaking thing would have touched me I would have died an unintentionally self inflicted death in my efforts to escape it's blood soaked fangs!

Well...this is where there are a few different versions of the story. Everybody at the house (isn't it amazing how everyone but me can be completely mistaken on the actual facts of the story?) They all say I screamed in a high pitched tone as I spun in a circle flapping my arms. Really now...does that sound like me?

Here is the reality. In a moment of bravery and clarity, I managed to escape the throes of death at the claws of a vicious rodent.

The high pitched scream was really a Braveheart-esque war cry.

The spinning in a circle and flapping my arms is a gross misunderstanding of athleticism. All real men out there understand the swim move that Warren Sapp so aptly mastered and displayed for all Defensive Tackles the world over. See, my father and 6 year old son had me pinned in as a buffer between them and the beast. Now...I love my son and all but really...how can I leave a legacy if a R.O.U.S. (rodent of unusual size) has severed my jugular? So...I had to think of myself first.

I had the most flawless technique. With the left hand I slapped my father in the head to throw him off guard while simultaneously stepping through his block by completing a swim stroke with my right hand and in a feat of true beauty busted a spin move springing me clear of all danger. Remember....a war cry and a beautiful, athletic, brutal swim/spin move.

I then stood back about 20 feet while he killed the little critter with a shovel.

Gotta stay on your toes WHEN ANIMALS ATTACK!!!!!

Come on, lets show them a solid front, leave a comment acknowledging what a brave and stunning specimen of a man I am.

Me and Animals Part I

So, this is a repost of a blog I put on myspace after a mishap on the farm....(Yes Richard and all you Liberty you Bahama trip alums...the cows finally got their revenge.

This should be good for a laugh or two.
When we were on vacation a few weeks ago, we stopped in B'ham and stayed with some good friends and had lunch with a few more. While there I played football. Didn't get hurt like my good friend James. From there we went to Florida and swam in the outdoor pool and waded in the ocean in early December and petted and fed alligators. Didn't get sick or bitten. We then drove to Georgia to my grandparents farm to visit my grandmother. There we swam in the nasty pond in December, shot 9mm, .45 handguns and several rifles. Didnt' get sick or the funk from the pond. Didn't get snake bit and didn't get shot. But....my wife and I were taking a early morning walk around the farm with the baby and the two dogs. We were walking thru the cow pasture (beef cows, not used to a lot of human interaction) and enjoying the little fiasco created by two beagles who have never seen cows and about 25 cows who have never seen dogs. Now...there were a few pregnant cows and a couple brand new baby cows...but I've been going there all my life and think I'm a pretty good judge of a cow's character. Some of the cows were very upset and agressive, but when they would charge me instead of the dog's, I would act real big and throw my hands up and yell at them to get away....which they do. A very fine tactic if you ever find yourself on the receiving end of bluffing cattle. Some of the cows would be downright mean and I would chase them off before they could misbehave, others were very friendly and I would let them approach and would scratch their head or feed them from my hand.
Well...one particularly large pregnant cow (about 2000-2500 lbs.) approached and I could tell she was friendly (remember I'm good at judging the character of cattle ha ha) she came right up to me, and as I was reaching out to pet her, she lowered her head and charged me before I could react. She slammed into my knees with her head (right knee still hurts and is stiff) then lifted her head quite agressively into my groin. This not only hurt enormously, but sent my flying on to her back, backwards, and slammed my head into her shoulder blade. (felt like I had been punched above my eye for a week). I'm now laying on this cow backwards, my wife screaming for the cow to "stop it" and both dogs barking and howling. The cow proceeds to run with me riding backwards on it's neck feeling quite confused and instinctivelly punching it in the ribs, which, as it's a 2500 lb. cow, is less effective as the aforementioned tactic of acting big, throwing hands up and yelling. It then wants to punish me for taking this ride and runs head first into a barbed wire fence which managed to not only cut my leg up, but hurt the cow and make her angry thinking that I was the one poking her in the head. She then proceeds to throw me through the air sideways landing on my butt between her and my wife holding my 8 month old baby. Now that she's not blindfolded by my crotch and can see the source of her discomfort, she feels it's her maternal duty to charge my with the intent of stomping me to China. Luckily, I got off one good punch that caught her behind the ear causing her to wince in pain and turn in the other direction.
All this to say, I now think it unwise to play Dr. Phil in analyzing the intentions of beef, and just stay away from cows when there is no protective barrier.
See..you're laughin' out loud now aren't you?

I know you're thinking of some interesting comments to leave for me.....leave them and wait a few days for my most recent adventure with "wild" animals.....and remember, no matter what my wife says, there was no "girlie flailing" of the arms.

Still Gotta Be a Father on Father's Day!

So...it is Father's day and I've already been a bit spoiled. Got snuggle time and breakfast in bed from the kids. Got a Best Dad Ever certificate and received a coupon book for fun stuff from Reese and the kids that are redeemable throughout the rest of the year. But, I've been reminded that I can't really take Father's day off.

See, my ideal rainy father's day is, after lunch of course...falling asleep on the couch while watching Chicago beat Toronto

And a little US Open action.

However, the kids really want me to watch Waterhorse with them so it looks like rather than sleeping to the sound of the crack of bats and the hushed tone of Open commentators, I'll be sleeping to the sound of the Loch Ness monster.

What will you be doing to enjoy your family today and more importantly allow your family to enjoy you?

Financial Legacy (Part 1 of 12)

If you remember, part of my "Manhood Plan", my strategy to be the husband and father I've been called to be in order to effect a long term legacy on my family, is

-I desire to reach financial freedom for my family in order to pursue God's callings without encumberance. To this end I will continue seeking God for his will with our money, finding ways to free more money to reduce debt sooner.

Dave Ramsey states it well when he says: "If you will live like no one else, Later you can LIVE/give like no one else!!"

To this end, Charis and I have begun a 12 week study by Dave Ramsey called Financial Peace University. It is encouraged that we journal our progress so I thought this would be as good a place as any.

It seems as though, although our income has increased, our ability to save has decreased. Some of this is due to our reliance on credit cards when my commission-only business was getting started, some of this is due to our buying a house and drastically increasing our housing expense. But, most of all, it is a mindset and excuse. The point was made that if our child were going to die unless he received a $1,000 vaccination, we would find a way to come up with that thousand. Good point. Dave recommends several baby steps, the first of which is to save $1,000 in an "emergency" fund. We have decided to take this first baby step although it doesn't seem possible with our current expense/income ratio. I currently have $50 deducted from my paycheck twice a month. We will continue to do this, but add a few things to this. We have decided to TRY to decrease our grocery/food budget from $700 a month to $400 freeing up $300. This will be quite a challenge of frugality, creativity and discipline in order to feed a family of 5 (and 2 dogs) on $100 a week. Also...I have TEMPORARILY postponed my 401(k) contributions and will re-route that into savings as well which will provide an additional $230ish a month. At this rate, if we can stick to it (could use your prayers for God's provision on that one) we will have our first baby step completed in 6 1/2 weeks. Currently we have 5% of our goal completed.

Forcible Following

It's interesting how God forces us to follow him sometimes because He loves us so much. It's interesting how God treated Lot and his family in Sodom. Sometimes... once we have surrendered ourselves to God and voluntarily placed ourselves in servitude and given him permission to direct our life...he does so. We like to believe that God ALWAYS speaks in a gentle whisper like He did to Elijah on the mountaintop, or that he leads us with gentle nudgings or that he is always the footprint in the sand gently and lovingly caring us. Sometimes, he gently and lovingly drags us kicking and screaming, sometimes He forcibly leads us. There are times when my kids are going against our wishes (perhaps walking towards something dangerous or just being outright rebellious and not going where we tell them) that I will walk over to them, grab them by the wrist, and drag them to where they belong. Turns out that's a godly example.

In Genesis 19:16 it says...."When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the Lord was merciful to them"

Sometimes mercy is forcible.

I think my family is experiencing this and it's quite uncomfortable.

The Beginning of a Legacy

So, my oldest son, Karston, who will be 9 in October surprised me in a very pleasant manner the other morning. As we were going through our morning routine of his medication and all the things he must endure each morning, he looked at me and said: "I hope I have kids one day, I can't wait to be a dad" I immediately knew this could be a meaningful conversation. I asked him why he looked forward to having kids and his response was "to be able to build good memories for them" I must admit, it really felt good to hear him say that because it let me know that he was saying that from experience and he feels like I help build good memories for him. (camping, s'mores in the backyard, white water rafting, throwing the ball, bike rides to tastee freez, trips to the city, feeding homeless niagara falls etc.)

My son, Captain K man is in good company desiring to be a father. We all know that Abraham wanted children and waited many years to see his promise come to fruition. I like that Karston's answer "to be able to build good memories for them" was outward and future focused. It wasn't because it would be fun, or he would have someone to play with...it was to leave a lasting impression. Abraham understood something of the legacy he was to leave when, in verse 3 of Genesis 15, he states: "O Sovereign LORD, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit [c] my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?" He understood that all he stood for and his impact on the world was all for naught if there was no one to continue the legacy.

I'm very proud of Karston for having a vision for the future and desire to instill in him, Josiah and Alyssa the importance of raising a Godly generation.

Genesis 18:19 For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, so that the LORD will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him."

Sound like a legacy in the making to me. What will your legacy look like?

There's just something about......God

So...it's funny what happens when you are conscientous about letting God lead your life. We had been attending a great church for a couple years but began feeling like God was leading us to a smaller more missional minded church. So, after a lot of conversation and praying, we made the move to Fusion Church in Lake Zurich, Illinois.

Immediately (quite literally) we were asked if we could help a family in the community. We were at church on Sunday and Monday at the zoo when we received a call asking us if we could help. Funny thing is, at the beginning of the year we made a conscious effort in our budget to set aside more money with which to be a blessing. This family needed some diapers...then a gas card to get to Love Inc., on organization that helps people with clothing etc. All of these things we were doing, were actually a little bit of a strain on our finances as it was a tight month for us, but we really believed this was a situation that had been placed in our paths by God. We also knew there was this crazy Christian cliche that you can't "outgive God". So, we continued to help out after reviewing each situation to be sure it was a legitimate need.

Then....my 1986 Nissan Sentra finally rusted apart. That's right, the engine still runs well but the axle and brake line rusted through. So, I went to bed on a Saturday night and had a conversation with God. Something like this..."God, there's no need for me to go into debt that I can't afford for a car....you can provide." Well, it turns out that on Sunday morning, I was telling our pastor about our car situation when he says "Do you need a car, we have someone that's giving one away"

Isn't that just like God. So, we've upgraded the model of our car by 10 years and it's much bigger so that our whole family can now fit into either of our cars if one is unavailable. God's pretty good huh. And it's always interesting that God rewards our obedience and sacrificial giving in ways that are beyond our expectations.

Legacy Plan

So... I learned something from the cup I was drinking out of Sunday at Chipotle. It says, "Wes Jackson is fond of saying that if your life's work can be accomplished in your lifetime, you're not thinking big enough."

That sounds a lot like what I've been coming to understand about fatherhood. My job as a father and husband is to intentionally be the father and husband that God has called me to be. To bring out the best in my wife and kids and to set an examle for my kids regarding how they should act as husbands and expect to be treated as a young lady.

I recently finished year one of "Men's Fraternity: The Quest for Authentic Manhood" and we were encouraged to create a Manhood Plan based upon the different lessons we experienced during our 24 weeks.

This is mine:

Being the Husband, Father, Leader and Grandfather I'm indended to be

-Each day on the way home from work, I will seek God and allow Him to prepare me to be intentionsl in my discipline, unselfish with my time and a servant to Charis.

-I will date Charis within one week of each paycheck ensuring that we date twice a month.

-Will plan an annual time away with just me and Charis-at least one weekend

-Once a month, at least be the 25th, I will find a tangible way to display affection and affirmation to Charis (flowers, card, note, etc)

-I will begin praying one on one with Charis nightly

-During the week I will actively look for and record things about my children that make me proud or that they are good at and share those things with them one on one at our monthly date.

-I want to facilitate Karston, Josiah and Alyssa encountering and falling in love with God. I will strive to live this daily but will also keep a laser focus on our two rules: Loving God and Loving People with the goal of making this a legacy and mission to be passed on to all future Goodson generations.

-I will plan at least one FUN family outing each month in order to play together and build lasting memories.

-I will continue to date Alyssa thru High School and her early adulthood until she is married. In doing this I will rely on God's grace to instill in her that she is a Princess who's very confidence and femininity will demand nothing less than respect and honr from the men in her life.

-I will continue my Bible study routine and wil lcontinue to fast on Mondays to pray for my family and whatever issues are presenting themselves at that time.

-I will actively seek a vibrant community of Godly men who hold me accountable and with whom I have a relationship that extends beyond a weekly "surface" encounter.

-I desire to reach financial freedom for my family in order to pursue God's callings withoug encumberance. To this end I will continue seeking God for his will with our money, finding ways to free more money to reduce debt sooner.

-I will begin a journal of sound financial principles that I desire to teach my children in order that they be armed with the tools essential to avoid financial pitfalls early in life.

-I will continue striving to maintain healthy diet and proper exercise in order to maintain my health and longevity allowing me to serve my family into my great grandchildren's generation.

I desire to use these tools to become an old man that is happy, content and in love. I look forward to the day that I can spend time with my children and their children and be blessed by their Godliness. To have my face and smile and love bring light to all those around me. To live long enough to experience a legacy of service to the Lord lived out in future generations. To have the privilege of my children and grandchildren seeking me out to speak blessing over their life. And to end each day in prayer with Charis and lying in bed discussing the many blessings God has bestowed on and through our family.

So, I know this seems methodical and sterile, but this gives me actionable steps towards becoming the man I'm called to be. What's your plan?

Any comments?

Still Gotta Do It

So, I have been running, I ran a mile every day for the first two weeks. Have been able to get to a place where I can actually haul my fat butt around the neighborhood for a mile and not die at the end. Pretty soon I will start timeing myself and working on getting my time down before progressing to a mile and a half. I have been a little undisciplined in my diet this week and ran a little less (cold, stomach ache,...all the good excuses). But...I did lose 5 lbs. and that is good news. Who knows, maybe I'll be healthy enough to have the privilege of seeing generations of Goodson legacy. Next blog, I'll share with you my "Manhood Plan" from my Quest For Authentic Manhood. It's important to have a plan to create a legacy and a plan to stay around long enough to see it through completion.

Fathers

So, if you have read the explanation of my blog, or read a few of my blogs (Gotta Do It, Legend) you know that I take fatherhood seriously and understand that it comes with a great amount of responsibility.

This was brought to light even more for me recently while reading Genesis. Chapter 15:7 says

He also said to him, "I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it."

He says, "I brought YOU..." However, in Genesis 11:31, it is stated that Terah, Abrahams father, took him and his grandson and daughter in law from Ur of the Chaldeans into Canaan. He didn't call Abraham out, he called his father out. From the rest of his life, it is quite obvious that God definitely wanted Abraham out of the the land of the Chaldeans, and used his father to do so.

So, the logical understanding is that God used Abraham's father to move Abraham into the land that God wanted him in for his future destiny. As far as we know, according to Joshua 24:2, Terah didn't worship God. However, God needed Abraham's father in order to carry out His plans in Abraham's life. Guess it's pretty clear that God intends fathers to be the instrument of His will in children's life.

So, what are you doing in your childrens life to bring about God's purposes. Or, better yet, how are you planning to to bring about God's purposes in your future children's lives? If an unbelieving father can be used to mold his children's lives, you can be too.

God, nature and Ronald Reagan

I just finished reading one of my favorite passages in the Bible. Job 38 and 39 when God tells Job "brace yourself like a man, I will speak to you and you will answer" God then proceeds to "lay the wood" on Job. He goes on and on about his amazing power and speaks rather sarcastically to Job about the fact that he doesn't compare to God's wisdom and power. At the very end of chapter 38 and all of 39, he shifts gears and becomes rather compassionate and passionate. The object of his compassion however, is nature. Several times in chapter 38 he makes birth references when talking about nature. It's as if His creation is his offspring and in chapter 39, he is quite proud of his offspring. He begins talking about taking care of lion cubs and young ravens in their hunger, then he talks about the mountain goat. These few verses have always been very tender to me. He makes it known that His presence is present at the birth of a baby mountain goat in the deep crags of a mountain. That he knows the due date and counts down the months like an expecting Father. I've always been humbled by the fact that he loves me even more than that mountain goat which receives so much of his attention.

He then goes on to brag about the independence of the donkey, the strength and stubborness of the ox, the speed of the ostrich, the bravery of the horse and the superiority of the eagle. God is quite proud of his creation. I think it's important to him that we take care of it. In chapter 31:38-40, Job says that if he had indeed neglected the care of the earth, then he would be deserving of his "punishment". Often times we tend to forget about the beauty of his creation and the fact that he is proud of it and wants us to enjoy it.

I've been reading "The Reagan Diaries" and was moved by an entry he posted on one particular Sunday. He was feeling guilty that he was unable to attend church due to the security problems posed after being shot. He and Nancy spent the day horeseback riding in the woods at Camp David and his entry read: "I hope God realizes how much I feel that I am in a temple when I'm in his beautiful forest and countryside"

I have to think this statement by Reagan put a smile on God's face. After all, what parent doesn't enjoy a compliment about his offspring?

When was the last time you enjoyed God's nature? Let me know about the experience and what you most enjoyed about it.

Gotta do it!!

Well, part of a 150 year plan to leave a legacy for your famiy is sticking around long enough to see it happen. I regret to say that I'm currently only 10 pounds away from my all time high of 260 pounds. That's right, I'm at 250. I need to get back down to the 225 I weighed a year ago after losing 40 pounds. Unfortunately, I can eat relatively healthy and mantain my 250 weight. I must be a little more disciplined with my diet, but most important need to get off my butt and run daily. So, it is my goal to get up in the mornings and run. I'm hoping to be able to force myself through a mile tomorrow. I know a mile isn't much but part of this will be uphill and I've got to start somewhere. So, I'll post a picture here of myself currently and will blog on the 15th and end of each month with an update. A little "atta boy" and encouragement would help along the way although I need to be a self motivator on this thing and make it happen. So here I am Sunday at my daughter's birthday party (the same daughter I need to stick around long enough for to see her kids.)

My Princess is two

I can't believe it, my baby Princess Peanut, Alyssa is turning two tomorrow. I'm not a big fan of her getting older at all, but I will be carrying on a second generation tradition tomorrow. My dad used to take me (and my brothers) out to breakfast on the morning of our birthday. I have always done that with my kids as well and will be going to McDonalds tomorrow with my little two year old princess for some pancakes and lovin'. Since she's only two, we won't be having a heart to heart but we will be building memories.

Two Weeks Old




First Year Birthday

Couple days ago

what if???

That's the big question, what if I hadn't won the bracket pool at work? The loser was going to have to wear a moustache (porn-stache as we called it) for a week at work as we serviced our customers and dealt with high finance, all the while trying to be taken seriously. So, if I hadn't won, this is how bad it would have looked.

Seriously, would you entrust your life savings to this? ??? Didn't think so, good thing I didn't lose (thank you memphis)

FFFIIIINNNAAALLLYYY!!!!!!!!!

Today, was, according to the weather man, going to be a beautiful day and my wonderful wife said "Are you going to ride the motorcycle to work?"

I have to admit, my ride to my mens meeting, Mens Fraternity: The Quest For Authentic Manhood, was a little chilly as it was in the upper 30's, but it was beautiful by 8 when I left my small group to go to work and it was fantastic riding the rest of the day.

The only bummer is that my Grandmother, Nanoo, wasn't here to ride with me like she was last year, that's right 86 year old biker mama.

yep, in a dress!

Horton Hears a Who and The Intimate Friendship of God

On Sunday, I took the family to see Dr. Seuss' HORTON HEARS A WHO. It was a really cute movie and the kids all liked it. Alyssa kept calling Horton the elephant a "poppie"



















which was also very cute.

The movie also had quite an element of theology to it, although I couldn't agree with it wholeheartedly. The mayor of Whoville was discovered floating adrift without any hope of rescue until discovered by Horton, the goofy elephant. The movie then goes on to show Horton and the mayor having a personal relationship in which the mayor could speak to Horton any time he wanted. In fact, oftentimes the mayor was very much the high priest standing in the gap for the town and speaking to Horton for help and rescue. (Maybe I'm stretching it here, but I couldn't help but wonder if the genius of Dr. Seuss wasn't trying to make a statement.)

Anyhow, what I didn't agree with was the fact that Horton, representing God, didn't know what was going on in the lives of the Whovillers. He couldn't see them because He was too big and they were too small and insignificant. He couldn't be intimitately involved with their lives and therefore became the genie in the bottle to respond to every request brought by the mayor. However, there was something quite endearing in the way Horton went out of his way to take care of these little people... that he couldn't even see...on a little speck of dust... on a cloverleaf...in the middle of the jungle . In fact, I didn't even come to appreciate how cool that was until I was reading Job 29 this morning during breakfast and I saw the beauty of it. Job was lamenting and longing for the months gone by in which, in verse 2, he states "when God's intimate friendship blessed my house"

The Hebrew word for friendship is COWD, which means "the company of a person-intimacy" and it comes from a root word meaning "be alert and sleepless-on the watchout".

I'm sure we've all had friendships in which we feel completely safe and can be vulnerable, but there is no friendship that creates safety and comfort like that of God's intimate friendship. As the man of my house I desire to bring my family the enjoyment of the days in which "God watches over me, his lamp shining on my head and by his light we walk through darkness! When God's intimate friendship blesses my house and the Almighty is with me and my children are all around me." Job 29:2-5

So WHOever you are out there in Whoville, begin to experience God's intimate friendship which will bless your house.

Apostle Paul and Piers Morgan

So, we watched the finale of Celebrity Apprentice that we had DVR'd tonight after getting home from hiking at Starved Rock state park in the "sprawling metropolis" of Utica, Illinois. Very cool history. There was a war going on between two indian tribes, one tribe went to the highest point on the river but were victims of a siege by the other tribe and some of their allies until they all starved to death. Anyway, a lot of anaologies there but that will have to be for another blog at another time.


Back to Celebrity Apprentice. Several observations. One it's a bummer that Trump had to choose Piers over Trace Adkins, but Piers did do a better job raising money. Two, Omarosa is as classless as I thought. Three, if I ever had any respect for the Backstreet Boys (I didn't in case you were wondering) it is all gone now after their requests for Wheat Grass Juice and black nail polish. Four, it's a shame Trump is only donating 250k to the charities as he is worth billions. But, most importantly, the observation that stood out to me the most is the reason Piers was able to win Celebrity Apprentice. He is renowned for his "deep roladex". In contacting celebrities for charity events, he was able to call on people such as: The Osbournes, Simon Cowell, The Dutchess of York and "Lord" Andrew Lloyd Webber of Phantom of The Opera fame. In watching this I realized that it wasn't a matter of merely having these peoples phone numbers stored in his I-phone, but of cultivating a relationship with these people over the course of many years. My first inclination was to feel as though I was missing out on many benefits of keeping up with my contacts that I meet on a daily basis, many of whom are quite influential and affluent. This was merely a selfish thought as I was thinking of how those relationships could benefit me in the future. I then realized that this is what the Apostle Paul did. Only he did it in a day and age without email, cell phones, faxes or even a reliable Postal Service. Paul intentionally cultivated his relationships in order to continually speak life into these people. I have been convicted to begin doing this as well, to keep up with the people I continually come into contact with for the purpose of creating a window of opportunity at some point in the future that God can use me to speak life into them.

So, I hope to begin "deepening my rolodex" in the future and create a network of people who God may use me to bring life to. Pray for me in this endeavor.

1st graders, farts and bloody butts

So...I volunteered to help in The Great Adventure kids program at our church THE CHAPEL...wow, that's not my calling. It's a great kids program and it is very interactive and is fast paced to keep the kids attention. However, I had first grade boys and nothing keeps their attention. The story of course was the resurrection of Christ and after a short cartoon, we were to discuss, in our small group some of the things that ocurred. Well, immediately a hand went up to inform me that "someone did a fart over here" which of course sent the kids laughing and pointing at each other. Then, when I asked what happened to the guards at the tomb, I thought we were making progress when one little boy answered..."There was a big flash of light, like lightning, and it hurt the guards eyes and scared them, so they passed out." However, he went on to explain that the guards fell and hit their heads on rocks, so "blood came pouring out of their butts"??!!???!!???!!???!??? I don't remember that ever being in the Bible and I don't think a knock on the head could possibly cause that bodily reaction and I'm more than a little disturbed that this kid had a bit of a fixation on blood and farts!! And more than once I wanted to shout BUHLUD NOT FUNNYYYYY!!!



It was quite an interesting night. I confiscated a hat, pokemon cards, a game stop gift card, had to stop a boy from sitting in front of the smaller kids to block their view, had two boys doing a push up contest in the middle of the lesson, one kid jumping on others, one taking his shoes off and sticking his feet on another kids nose, two kids pulling up the carpet and someone "doing a fart over here." Wow, I think I'll stick with older people from now on. More power to those of you like my brother Seth who are childrens pastors cause it takes a special grace.

Sportin a "Porn"stache

So, me and a couple guys at work filled out our NCAA brackets and since we're all family men with kids to support and the sole income of our households, we decided we didn't need to put any money on the table. So...we decided that the last place person would have to sport a full on moustache for an entire week at work. The second place person would have to sport the "chin only" beard for a week as well. Of course, the winner can just laugh at everyone else. Currently, I am in second place due to Xavier pulling it out over Georgia and busting my bracket up a bit. So, if it ended now, I would be sporting the chin beard, so I decided to post this pic of when I once rocked it out before. So, what do you think?

So, this is the beginning stages and the next picture was mid stage. It got to the point that I could braid it into two different braids but I couldn't find a "full grown" picture.
So, what do you think? Even if I win the bet should I keep growing the chin?

What would you do?

So, as a Financial Advisor, I have to learn about my client's goals and passions in order to understand what emotions are driving the decisions they make regarding their finances. It also helps when we are in tumultuous times like this to know what their passions and goals are to avoid making irrational "knee jerk" reactions. I usually just simply ask what they want reirement to look like etc. I've been trying to find ways to ask this question in a manner that demands a more creative answer. One of these questions would be: "If you had enough money to take care of all of your needs for the rest of your life, how would you live differently than you are now?" This not only defines our financial goals but reveals the truly important things in our lives. Helps us define and discover God's calling on our lives. "...I will give you the desires of your heart." He placed the desires in us and we honor Him by discovering those desires and beginning to long for them.

Curious to know some of your thoughts on this question. Think about it and leave a comment letting me know how you would live differently.

I know my answer is that I would spend a lot more time at home with my wife and kids, working only just enough to afford a lot of exotic travel, and I would be able to spend more time planning social projects/mission projects with my kids. Working with homeless, helping children etc. We would also probably pursue adoption with a little more fervor and urgency.

Let me know what your heart says.

Legend, John

So, I'm a big music lover. Music of all kinds: Country, blues, easy listening, classic rock, swing, jazz, oldies, folk, rap, hip hop, bluegrass, classical, gospel, worship and even old hymns. My most recent purchase is John Legend-Get Lifted. I really enjoy his voice, piano, hip-hop fusion and the gospel influences you can hear in his songs. The most popular track and one of my favorites is called Ordinary People in which he chronicles the ups and downs of his relationship and the promise to stick together through all the ups and downs. However, the chorus bugs me. "We're just ordinary people/ We don't know which way to go/ Cuz we're ordinary people/ Maybe we should take it slow/ Take it slow...This time we'll take it slow."

It seems to me, that husbands and fathers should be able to remedy the problem presented in this chorus. That is, assuming they are AUTHENTIC MEN of God. An AUTHENTIC MAN knows that He is not ordinary because he has been called to a Higher purpose by his God. He will know which way to go because he listens closely to his God for the direction of his family. He has a specific plan in place in which to lead his family and he has a vision for his family. A 150 year vision that looks beyond his lifetime and the lifetime of his children, to the LEGEND or legacy that he will leave behind. When a man is being a man there is no insecurity or lack of direction in his family, it is only when a man abdicates his responsiblity that families feel like ordinary people who don't know which way therefore have to take it slow. In fact, God once punished Jerusalem and Judah by removing from them all the men of valor.

Isaiah 3:1-12

1The mighty LORD All-Powerful
is going to take away
from Jerusalem and Judah
everything you need--
your bread and water,
2soldiers and heroes,
judges and prophets,
leaders and army officers,
3officials and advisors,
fortunetellers
and others
who tell the future.
4He will let children and babies [a] become your rulers.
5You will each be cruel
to friends and neighbors.
Young people will insult
their elders;
no one will show respect
to those who deserve it...
8Jerusalem and Judah,
you rebelled against
your glorious LORD--
your words and your actions,
made you stumble and fall....
You are in for trouble,
and you have brought it all
on yourselves....
12Though you are God's people,
you are ruled and abused
by women and children.
You are confused by leaders
who guide you
down the wrong path."

The question I have to constantly ask myself is..."am I allowing my family to be blessed or cursed due to my absence or presence." I want to be sure that my family is never without the soldier, hero and prophet I have been called to be.

So, when it comes to Legend. Will it be John Legend or the Legend of the Goodson legacy? Will it be John Legend or the Legend of your family? Come on guys, be a man.

Long time no blog

Just felt the need for a little transition as I haven't blogged in quite some time. My nephew Gideon,passed away after a little over a month of blessing us with his presence and incredible example of a warrior's heart. That was obviously a difficult time for our family and we appreciate the prayers and support of all who were involved in doing this. His celebration/memorial service was moving and touching with well over 100 people there to celebrate the life of this little warrior. Since then Seth and Tarah had my niece Jericho (Jerry Curl) Joy Goodson and she is quite a cutie, seen here with my kiddos. Also, my other brother Khane and his wife Elisabeth have just found out they are pregnant with their first.

We have seen a long history of Satan's attack on the first born of our families. There were complications with my birth and then quite an attack on my life from age 9/10 until about 12 when I was being pulled away from God in some rather drastic measures relative to my age. Then, my oldest son was born with a spinal disorder which my wife has chronicled in one of her blogs lypoma which could have created much more drastic disabilities for him than he has already experienced, we now pray for him to remain strong and untouched in his emotions as he deals with difficult side results of his disablity. Then, Seth and Tarah had a miscarriage of their first child and experienced the death of their second. Please agree with us that there will be no way the 150 year legacy of Goodson's can be hindered by the attack on our children and pray for protection of Khane and Elisabeth's child and all the Goodson clan still to come. Quite reminiscent of the attacks on the firstborn children when Moses was targetted and later Jesus.

So, now that you are caught up, I do intend to be a little more frequent with my blogs than once every couple years. There will be random thoughts, funny thoughts, scriptural insights, challenges to be a man and who knows what else. Would love some feedback and comments ocassionally. This blog is primarily intended to be something that my children can read one day along with my Bible study/prayer journals and help feed the flame of intentional legacy creation within them.