It's Thanksgiving night.

Things that happened today that I am thankful for:
-Late night conversation with my granddad after everyone else had gone to sleep. We talked about pursuing dreams and the meaning of success. I will always cherish sitting across from him at that table in their house on the lake.
-Climbing a tree to retrieve the football I had so conveniently placed there. It reminded me of being a kid and skinning my knees.
-Laughing while passing the turkey and stuffing (yes, it is called stuffing if it is stuffed inside the turkey). Laughter always seems to follow us to the dinner table.
-Smelling my grandmother's cinnamon bread when I walked into the kitchen this morning. When we used to stay with them every summer when we were kids, this was the smell that always guaranteed a good day was ahead of you.
-Looking through my grandmother's photo albums with the football game on in the background. These pictures are some of the moments I revisited.

Thank you for the past.
It's the only reason the now exists.

Grandma and Grandpa in 1961.

Mom and Dad in 1986.

Dad and I in 1989.
Hair?
Fist pump?

Dad, Mike, and I in 1992.
Pink?
Emissions?

Stumbled on these pictures recently.
As I was thinking about the upcoming Christmas events this year, I reflected on past Christmas experiences.
Last year my family gave each other a trip to Roatan to go scuba diving.

Out of this world.
Beautiful.
Hilarious.
Rustic.
Examining.
Just a few words to describe it.

Suggestion:
If you want to bond with your family this Christmas, do something that stretches you and is out of the ordinary (for us, it was a scuba diving trip and the best quesadilla on the planet) in place of the presents that none of us ever need.
Also, if you've ever dreamed of traveling to another planet, scuba diving will take you there.

Talk about what you're thankful for this Thanksgiving.

"Faith, by its very nature, must be tried."

-This is destroying my excuses for inactivity.
-Steadfastness is an offensive battle that requires swords, fists, honor, and a confident gritting of teeth.
-Brotherhood is our wrecking ball.

Name your days.

It helps you remember them.
It helps you realize the kind of life you are living.

You get one line.
So live good titles.

"My soul is losing."
"My heart feels heavy."
"My punishment must be coming because I do the very things I hate."

How do we win?
How do we overcome the temptations that our minds and bodies throw at our souls?
How do we get out of this hole of hopeless battling?

How do we grow?
How do we put a stop to our boredom?
How do we gain the qualities we want to have?

How do we know Jesus?

Meditate.
Meditate on the words that God himself wrote for us and our specific situations.

Meditate--to contemplate deeply.
This is what the Bible tells us to do.
How we do it is through memorizing the words and keeping them in our thoughts as we go about the day.

I have forever been horrible at this.
This method helped me:
-get a small journal
-print out the verses you are going to memorize for the week and tape them to the front of the page
-keep a tally of how many times you say them each day
-write your thoughts on the verses you are memorizing on the back of the page
-don't try to memorize too many verses each week...it'll make you not do it (1-4 is good)
-look back over previous weeks to keep them fresh and accessible

R.I.P.

Rest...In...Peace.

We see this everywhere around Halloween.
Blood, guts, and gore are our entertainment.
"Hey man, my costume is cooler than yours because, I mean, you look dead, but I look really dead."
The nastier the better, right?
It's interesting that, in the middle of this, a subtle message of beautiful hope has squeezed it's way in.

What if...what if this statement is for life, and not death alone?
What if peace is something we could gain and rest was simply the result of that gain?
The promise of entering into rest still stands.
So let's reach it.
Peace cannot come from something that has no peace...aka...me.
So it must come from something out of this world.

If you are tired, peace is your answer.



Joy found in gravestones.

I have a bonsai tree.
I have a bonsai tree because it makes me feel like Mr. Miyagi.

I want to feel like Mr. Miyagi because he seems like the type of guy who lived a contemplative and meaningful life because he thought through his decisions instead of immediately responding with ignorance.

Wax on.
Wax off.