Losing & Winning – is it an urgency?

What makes greatness?

It’s a simple question. Greatness. A seemingly simple word…yet it encompasses much more than its simplistic approach on life. Great is good. Great is great….but greatness carries a thundering command performance that must pack a punch or knock the ball out of the park, or win championships…or speaks to large crowds and people listen intently…and follow the lead, etc.

Greatness.  To win or to lose. What is it about LeBron James and the Cavs? Lebron is more than greatness on the basketball court, he is amazement (Bill Simmons, ESPN). LeBron carries this ora with him….or to say it that his reputation precedes him. He is larger than life when he enters a room! He’s….LeBron! The Cavs lost last night. LeBron will be talked about in many ways over the next month or so. So will Brett Favre! Again – winning; losing; urgency? Is it urgent to win? My brother says yes. Is it defining if the end result is a loss? How so? If LeBron never wins a championship is it that he was never really as good as most of us think he is? Will this topic and this fundamental play out in little kids lives..kids like my sons’ lives – as they get older….the sense of urgency to win! Will it make them a better man?  Will losing make them worse?

I know a man in our town; he’s perhaps the most successful business man in our community – you wouldn’t know it. He never flaunts his stuff.  He will not ever come across as wealthy, connected, or ambitious. He is brilliant. He is shrewd in business. He has the mind of a machine and the humor of a late night talk show host! He told me one time about the team he was on in high school.  They lost every game for at least one season if not more! Every game! Their team was the laughing stock. The TEAM itself…my friend says, never gave up. They were tempted to quit. Tempted to fight people over stupid comments. Tempted to hang their heads. My friend likes to list the men on that team. Every one of the “starters” of that senior year of his are now in business or community leadership! All of them. He says something more than winning and losing was happening that year. Well, they didn’t win…..but they did lose; or did they win something else? Urgency?

Don Miller talks about ‘story” and how a good story involves risk…..and how a story is “a character who wants something and overcomes conflict to get it”.

My friend and his team mates overcame conflict. They tell good stories from the lives they’ve lived. I believe that LeBron James has a good story.  Maybe I’m one of those caught in the turbines of his magnetic vibes that scream greatness….but I think it’s a safe bet to say that he is someone who really wants something (title?) and is overcoming (wishful thinking?) conflict to get it.

Do you have conflict in your life? Have you attempted to get over it or overcome such mess in your life? I sure have it. It is in the little stuff. It’s in the big stuff.

Winning – it’s a great thing. Losing is a tough thing. Seems like we all want to win…but maybe there is more than the W or L on a score card…maybe it’s about something deeper that lurks within. Or is it something that is underneath the urgent needs of victory…something that speaks of eternity. Something that carries its own set of urgencies. Something that begs a question of me and really of you, too – Do you want to get well?

Namely, Jesus. He’s asking. He delivers – He overcame conflict and His story is a good story – it’s The Good Story.  It would be fun to tell you His Story. 

Read one of the gospels in the Bible sometime if you like….Mathew, Mark, Luke, or John (books in the New Testament) – I like the book of John the best, myself. 

We’ll camp out right there. Here’s to a tough loss….and here’s to a great win.  Great does not give way to the depth and value and hope and immense infinite power of what I’m really saying here.

A great affection – Jesus Christ…

 

Blessings,

-ao

Trees…fences..and boundaries

Well…today’s the day.  A fence begins. Well, actually, it began a while back! It began when I cut down the first vine, the first little tree, and when I started up the borrowed chainsaw. Then I piled on more and more of the same – it was a mountain of brush in front of our house. It was a mountain of my own success! Manhood. It was awesome. It was hard work. The work continues….

Yesterday a friend of mine came over and sawed down a tree that would have taken me probably a full day to make happen….and I’m guessing I could have done some serious damage when it fell.  Instead, I called up my friend, Joe and he came out to scope the scene.  He smiled and said, “I could have that tree down in 7 minutes!” Then, just for kicks…he said he could put on a show for my sons and after being up in the air and cutting down some limbs it would take a grand total of about 30 minutes or less. Unreal. So, he climbed, he sawed, he conquered. Again – awesome…in the words of Wyatt, “Wwwwoooooaaaaahhh!!!” I said to him, “That’s pretty crazy, huh?”  Wyatt said, “yeah….or pretty cool!”.  yes, indeed, son.

Now, the posts are going up. I’m nervous for the lines we’ve drawn in our yard….that I got too close to our neighbors fence on the back side…we measured, we used property pins…not sure they did when their fence went up…..and we didn’t spend the money on a survey….but I think it looks good…looks ready to roll, baby! Posts go up today.  Pickets go up Friday a.m.  Did we get it right?  Will our fence look good?  Will we be satisfied?  Are our boundary lines correct? All good questions. 

The answer to me – is to relinquish and hand over trust. Or, to trust..simply trust that it’s right. We took our time, we measured, we were very careful and very selective.  We belong to the Lord.  We trust Him. His faithfulness is solid and true. He is faithful…to Himself…and His word.  He is love. 

Here’s to the next step in the process of making this place our own. 

Blessings,

-ao

Things that make you go hmmm…

Who sang that song?  It was the somethin..somethin Factory – right?  I can’t remember.

What I do know is this urge of a story within…it keeps lingering.  My story lately is in my yard. It’s in my dreams of what my yard can become and what it will take to create these visions into a reality. An oasis right before our eyes. A refuge of greenery, hammocks, plants, pergolas and a “back porch” design.  Country Cottage.  Garden. Farm life. Comfort.  Sort of.

That’s the plan, anyway.  I have a friend who took his whole house and made the outside like a tree.  It’s called a Bark House.  Tree bark is the actual exterior of his home.  His back yard is a garden, a patio, a storage building with cedar shakes roofing and cottage-style porch along with a few thousand honey bees and some really heavy slate stone in his yard…..mixed up with millions of plants and flowers that bloom in the spring followed by some of his groceries crafted by his cautious planting of seeds throughout the year.  I like my friend’s yard.  I like his style.  He’s a cool kat.  He works really hard to get his yard as it is.  When I wonder if our yard will become something of those sorts at his house…it makes me wonder about marriage.

One time a friend of mine was in financial planning, counseling and investments – he spoke of a major problem a lot of “young couples” had when entering into marriage:  big dreams.  He said those big dreams cost them a lot of money at the furniture stores and credit card companies….that they (we) try and keep up with their parents. They try and cultivate a false reality of everything they have ever grown up with by the time they say “I do” and the problem with that is it took their parents 25 years to accumulate their “stuff” so why should a married couple expect to start out their “lives together” with all that??  It is simply unrealistic to think (apart from independent and pure wealth) that this can happen and the rest of their financial scenario be anything close to healthy.

So, about my yard.  Are my hopes and visions unrealistic?  Not hardly! This is our fourth house in eight years of marriage.  We have been blessed by moving. We do not like to move.  We have moved.  We have been blessed….I used to see a guy who, when asked “How are you doing?”, he would reply – always - “Blessed man….I’m blessed, man”. I think we are beginning to sense a bit of what my friend was telling us.  We love our house.  We have no plans of moving. We “plan” to stay.  That is what Jesus told His disciples when he visited them after conquering death…after Easter Sunday…. “Stay”.  He told them to do so until he would send (God the Father would send..) the Comforter to guide them from then on (Holy Spirit).  So, we feel no sense to leave this home…it is our home.  We really like our lives. Yes – there are days that simply stink. There are days where arguments happen, money runs out and my time with Jesus was absent and I felt the presence of another that did no feel like I was sustained…but – it does not change God’s love for me or my place in His kingdom.  Still, I’m blessed, man…I’m blessed.  My yard…like I was saying – it is this passage into a land of dreams and a land of manhood that only a few can really understand. Olivia says she gets sleepy in our back yard.  I like the cool breeze. It helps me wonder.  I wonder…what will come next in the land of day dreams and future hopes???

More to come…..next, a chainsaw…a fence, and a nap.  More time with Christ…more story to tell.

Blessings,

-ao

young life leadership

 

this is a post from Olivia’s Blog – I thought I’d steal it and share it w/you…

 

 

We had leadership at our house on Friday night. Leadership is a time to get together with our YL leaders and committee to worship, play some fun crazy games, pray, hear what the Lord is up to, and just be together. We had a great time.

 

The first of three games: pulling kleenex out of the box {one by one}, in a minute or less, only using one hand, as fast as you can. Go Brent! {Look at Boone just chillin’}

Here’s Pam. She had awesome technique. Go Pam!

Next was the oreo cookie game. An oreo is placed on your forehead and using only the muscles in your face…you wiggle it down to try and catch it in your mouth…using no hands. Go Suzanne!

Daniel was next…he did it! Go Daniel!

Then there was this game. I’m not even sure what you call it. But here are the bags from tallest to shortest and I do mean short. Using your mouth you pick up the bag and run it over to a chair, drop it off, then repeat. You can not use hands and your knees, legs, arms, hands can not touch the ground. Go Lynsi!

Here I am. Haha. I was called up front to participate. It was fun!

And then Cupp had to go doing this… Go Cupp!

The last game was stick your nose in vaseline and place it in a bowl of cotton balls.

You then go across the room and try to get as many cotton balls in a bowl without….using your hands. Go Elaine!

Then Stephe was up. Yay for Committee Participation!

These games were from the TV show Minute to Win It. Yay Carol Lee and Carly for showing up with fun games to make us laugh!

This picture is just hilarious.

Boone and Wyatt loved the attention. Loved having people over. Loved getting to stay up late. And after two attempts to keep Wyatt from changing in to his “Super Hero Pajamas” aka: blue thermal underwear that is way too big, I just gave up and let him do it.

We prayed for leaders. They prayed for our home. Thank you dear friends for all you do to help reach the gospel to our high school friends. For showing them Christ not only through your words but your actions too. Thank you for giving your time to serve in Loudon County. For loving on our boys. For loving high school kids.

Is it a feeling...

(This is a re-post of an old post from June 2009 – it’s good for me to read…again.  Maybe the same is true for you?)

What is it about Jesus?  Who is this man...that's what so many people wondered about Him when he walked on the Earth.  The truth is, so many are wondering the same about Christ today - they may or may not truly know it.  I believe that many people wonder about God....about Jesus Christ and the things He said and did.  I believe they wonder about miracles, about poverty, the ancient tribes in Africa, the homeless people, the rich, the famous, the murderers, the lonely ones, the ones without hope, the hookers, the officers.....the moms and dads...the husband who left for another, the mom who walked away....there are so many things to consider. There are so many scenarios to conquer or to doubt...which way to go - shall it be left or right, right or wrong, happy or sad!  Decisions, thoughts, and doubts - a labyrinth of mind games and pockets of hope and fears. It seems there are fingers pointing in all directions.

So, which direction is the right one?  Which is, as they say, True North ? 

What happens when the feelings over come everything else?  What happens when life gets in the way....and the "Dark night of the soul" shows up in our lives??  How do we get past a feeling of depression?  What do we do with our anxieties and our anger?  What do we do with this slave that lingers in a place where no one can go nor has ever seen - this true self?  Are we supposed to "get over it"?  Are we to simply move on and be better? Is better even relative?  You see, this is the stuff that crap is made of....from the pits..the pits of hell - rather, it (all the mess of lies that infiltrate our minds and attempt to penetrate our hearts) is not from the Lord.  Hear that again: It is not from the Lord!  It isn't. No, those do not belong in the same sentence; they are not a part of the breath of God.  When Jesus Christ walked in the upper room and breathed on His disciples, He was breathing the breath of life (the light and life of God) and the Holy Spirit upon them.  It was really Him.  Jesus Christ, fully God and fully man - the "visible expression of the invisible God" (-Colossians 1:15)

May we, somehow, never forget to remember that Jesus' love for us stretches as far as the East is from the West; His love and payment for us separates those that believe in Him from our sin as far as the East is from the West = forever...and ever!  Any time a feeling that is other steps or creeps in...it just is not from Him.  True North?  Happiness?  Hope and Peace?  Freedom?  Well, it exists.  They exist.....only in Him.  Those things not of Him or from Him are of no value.  The arguments at home, the thing you may be about to say in the midst of anger or in the midst of  frustration....or in a conflict that has not even happened....well, is it of any value??  The truth is that He is the value in our lives.  Jesus IS the ONLY true VALUE.  Everything else will fail....He is.  He was.  He will be forever.  Nothing can separate us from the love made known in Christ Jesus.  Forever and ever.

Is it just a feeling? perhaps the feeling is temporary. Jesus is not.  My faith in Him is not.  His being in me and me in Him:  not temporary.  The hope we have in Christ; the promise He gives...the infinite love and mercy and call:  Forever with the Father.  Pure in the eyes of the Lord.  To Hell with that which is not from Him.

All I need is in Christ...in Christ alone.

His Peace.

-ao

A “nest of worms” is a treasure in life

 

Worms.  Wyatt.  A dog-chewed mini shovel and a great spring day!  That was today – the Lord’s day…..we went to church and had a great day.  I played some ultimate frisbee with some friends and then came home to hang out with my family. This evening was awesome. A great meal….the boys playing outside, chicken on the grill and my neighbors outside in their yards and walking down the street. I guess we could make a movie about today and tonight.

 

This is a shot of Wyatt digging in the dirt to find worms – he found probably thirty of them and took them “to new homes” (probably their new route to a dry death!) instead of saving them to go fishing which was my suggestion. 

 

We got ready for bed and then sat on our front porch sitting in a rocking chair together.  I used to sit on our front porch at an old farm house growing up. We stared off into the sunset and pastures…and a huge old Magnolia tree that is still standing today. Our house was built in 1865.  We lived on borrowed land with about 465 acres to roam; three springs, two ponds and a lot of woods, two barns, a few horses and bunches of fun.  I remember sitting on the old wooden porch with my dad and talking about life before retiring for the night. Those were good times. Old house. Old times. Old memories.  Somehow, I wonder if my son’s memories will add up to mine – but maybe they don’t compare….maybe it’s not fair for me to think his memories could or should compare to mine – because I AM his daddy and no matter where we are – that’s the cool thing…that we are spending time together rocking on a rocking chair and telling stories. 

I have been told I have what we now affectionately refer to as “Ogleisms” as a general lingo in life. For so much of my life people would laugh or have odd gazes at my sayings and wonder where did he come up with that!  I would always in a proud manner confess it was my dad that I got that ridiculous statement from. It was always good, always fresh and random.  It was like word gifts to a dead language – it would just bring life in a unique way.  One time my mom told me how she missed my dad – they split when I was little – how she missed going out with him and if there were one thing that she wished she could still have it would be his dance moves, his social and intentional personality with people around him.  Mainly, she wanted to dance….and her husband, my Step-dad was and is not a dancer.  My mom is now with Jesus.  A few years before her death she had her lower right leg amputated.  I remember dancing with my mom at my wedding….it was something I’ll never forget and would never trade for anything.  It was sweet and powerful. My hope is that my sons carry a legacy that my parents have given me.  I love talking about my dad. Love it!  I love talking to high school guys I hang out with as their YL leader about their dads and how my dad and I were and are…and how God loves them as Heavenly Father infinitely greater than they can fathom. 

So, here’s to digging worms, a ratty back yard in progress to special, an old sand turtle box, a front porch rocking chair, a bed time story about Abraham and Isaac and the Father’s love, my dad, my mom, my wife and my family.  It is good and sweet. 

Let’s go enjoy it. 

Blessings,

-ao

Where the Fern Grows

There’s a new addition here at the house.  We have a baby Sycamore tree sitting in the back…it’s in the think of it with the other trees that are about 100 times its size. We are wondering where to plant this new tree that our neighbor gave to us!  We also had some guys show up just before Easter and till up our back yard to “rock hound” our yard. For you non-construction and old-timer gurus out there – that means “to smooth out the rough spots in the dirt”, AKA “Rock Hound”.  So, now we at least have some straw on top of our compacted red clay and seed that is dried up and exhausted in its efforts to actually grow a blade of grass!
Our yard?  It has potential. Our vision?  Yes, we do have one…but it comes in little slices and glimpses of greatness.  Currently we have not patio set as we are figuring out best prices and style….and trying to be “Thrifty” as Olivia says.  I agree.  I also cannot wait to have that sucker up and running. 
My latest hope and vision?  Here it is:

These are drafts of a vision that popped in my head of what could happen in our back yard. Notice the fence that is not there…the trees next to the storage shed turned building with cool country metal roof and back porch vibes!!  My friend Budd has a storage shed similar to this…..I thought of a hybrid to his.  Dang, I can’t wait. I think I can build it on my own…..won’t it be fun to watch??

In the mean time….what we have currently, in addition to our sapling bagged up in the back….are two new ferns on our front porch. I hung them up tonight.  God the yard mowed…..2nd time ever at this house. Got things looking better…inch by inch around here! One day….we are going to have a sweet little cottage right here in our neck of the woods….and we are great with it taking some time to get fully where we want to be in this house.  What if I viewed the rest of my life in that manner? What if I saw what God is doing in me as something that is taking time and refinement?
That’s how I view sanctification – there’s a biggie! A big word that, to me, anymore – means the refinement of myself that is being done by God and His Holy Spirit alive in me. He refines me…over and over again! He draws me nearer to Him.  I hope that as we hang ferns and go get another and consider planting a garden and building a storage barn / back porch and several other things  that are on our hearts….that we do more than trust God. I hope we watch what He’s up to in our lives and as we learn patience that he is working things out in my life from the inside out  - Jesus said that “out of the overflow of (my) heart, (my) your mouth will speak”.  So, may my life live as my heart is and may my heart be filled with Christ – and, to get technical on you – it is!!

I belong to Him.  I’m so glad that two ferns on our front porch bring me not only to Jesus but hopeful patience and trust in my life.

Blessings,
-ao

its like love you know

What if my story was a story? What if my story were something that wanted to be read? What if my thoughts kept popping out and landed on paper somewhere and people really wanted to inquire and wondered about my life in ways that made them pay for the paper they read about my life?

Well, for some people – that’s their life. But I bet if we looked into their minds…if their minds were like a movie playing in front of all of us, they might confess or we’d see their thoughts of wondering why people read their thoughts and why do people buy their stories and wonder how interesting they really are when, perhaps, in fact they are concerned with how cool their life REALLY is. It could get old. Couldn’t it?  Sometimes I wonder if my stories are worth telling and if they are worth telling would they be worth reading?  Paying for? Looking at?  Re-telling to other parties? For some reason, I think there are ideas that show up in my mind about ten times a day that would be worth writing about and yet I never take the time to write them down.

You got a story? I bet you do.  I have a story.  I have something to say – so my mind says. My story is random. My wife says my Facebook status updates make zero sense – that they are random and just don’t add up, so to speak.  I say that I am the one who makes zero sense…it’s why I have  my story and why I think my stories just might fly! So, what am I planning on doing about this story….and the ones that come and go?  I think I want to start logging these ideas somewhere. I have a friend who talks about life being lots of great book titles…not so much the material for great books and all that jazz but just good book titles. That’s his life. I think I agree with him. I have found some good titles. My hope is to fill in the gaps with my stories and my ideas.  I am going to begin unpacking some of my stories…and eventually they’ll get out of my head and onto something somewhere else…and we’ll see then. 

My friend once told me how he’d been working on a book for about seven years (this was four years ago) and it was still not in draft form ready for final edits. Then it finally came to the edit stage! We celebrated. I don’t honestly know if he is published now or not – but what I now understand is how it took seven years.  Life gets in they way.  So, here’s my challenge to myself to write my thoughts down.

 

Life is a story.  Write yours down.  I’m headed that way.  I think I like it.  It keeps lingering…you know.

 

Blessings.

-ao

man, a story belongs

So, I’ve been thinking how there are lots of stories that float through my mind on any given day. I mean….lots of stories. Fun ones. Bad ones. Children’s stories and manly stories alike – they just float in and float away……landing somewhere down stream.
My problem is that I don’t seem to find the floaters. I read today about how Don Miller uses a Kitchen Timer when he writes. He says as long as the timer is tickin’ he’s writing on that project / topic and not answering his phone or checking email, etc. – just ticking away on the story he’s writing. I could adopt a similar philosophy. There are times that is what I shoot for – but this season of life…it’s just so dang challenging. I am spinning a lot of plates and in the midst of that it gets tough to slow down long enough to let out of the bag what lurks within. I feel like perhaps I have something to say. I day dream of just uninterrupted time while sitting in the mountains, my front porch, a deck overlooking the beach and listening to the waves….as I just let it out. Writing whatever comes up in my mind and letting the stories take a route of their own and seeing where it all lands when the buzzer goes off.
I think one day I will get this chance but until then I suppose it’s good to have a vision and hope – just think…if I had time to really think about what I write….as you read this…it could be something you might really like! Until then….here’s to stories, creativity, timing and seasons of life.
A story lurks within….no, really, it does.

We finally got our yard worked on – it isn’t what we’d hoped for but there’s some fun in sitting on the back patio with these two little dudes watching the guys run the skid steer and letting boys be boys. We are lining up for more memories and more stories at our home. Thanks be to God.

Blessings,
-ao