Booo!!!

We just came in from another Halloween of trick or treating with the boys. We visited with all of our friends and neighbors. We walked around the entire neighborhood. It was a nice time.

Now, the trick or treaters have stopped and the doorbell is silent again. The boys have plenty of candy to last them until Thanksgiving. Daddy has already had enough until Thanksgiving too. This day marks the start of the sugar frenzy until Christmas day. Here it comes. Watch out!

For now, enjoy some of these pics of the boys and our neighbors.

This year we gave out Kit Kats, Reese's, Hershey Bars and Twizzlers at the door!

Happy Halloween!!

Time To Make A Decision

Indecision is the greatest thief of opportunity. -- Robert Schuller

The indispensable first step to getting the things you want out of life is this: decide what you want. -- Ben Stein

Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen. -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

A wise man makes his own decisions, an ignorant man follows public opinion. -- Chinese proverb

The secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his opportunity when it comes. -- Benjamin Disraeli

Opportunity dances with those who are already on the dance floor. -- H. Jackson Brown Jr.

There is no more miserable human being than one in whom nothing is habitual but indecision. -- The Principles of Psychology 1890

His Vision, His Way, In His Timing

Have you ever wanted something so bad that you would do almost anything to get it? Have you ever gotten so close to fulfilling a dream only to have it disappear right before your eyes? Such was the case for Abraham.

God promised Abraham that he would be the father of many nations. He would have a son. However, Abraham panicked when Sarah aged beyond child bearing years and tried to help God by birthing Ishmael through Sarah's servant, who was not the promised son. Eventually, Isaac was born, who was the promised son.

However, God tells Abraham to sacrifice his only son on an altar to demonstrate his obedience to God. Truly, this is one of the hardest instructions given to one of God's people in all of scripture. It compares only to the Heavenly Father sacrificing His own Son. God intervenes and allows a lamb to take his place, symbolizing the Lamb of God as a prophetic sign of what is to take place in the future.

God often births a vision in our lives only to allow it to die first before the purest version of the vision is manifested. This has happened several times in my own journey. Oswald Chambers observes, "God's method always seems to be vision first, and then reality, but in between the vision and the reality there is often a deep valley of humiliation. How often has a faithful soul been plunged into a like darkness when after the vision comes the test. When God gives a vision and darkness follows, waiting on God will bring you into accordance with the vision He has given if you await His timing. Otherwise, you try to do away with the supernatural in God's undertakings. Never try to help God fulfill His word."*

When God's vision is finally birthed, nothing will stop it. Our job is to allow God to birth His vision through us His way and in His timing.

His Vision, His Way, In His Timing

TGIF Today God Is First Volume 2, by Os Hillman

10-27-2008

"Then God said, 'Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about'" (Gen 22:2).

Oswald chambers, Not Knowing Where, Discovery House, Grand Rapids, MI.

2 Corinthians 5:17

If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

Where do I want to be at age 35?

12 years ago (1996), for New Year's (I think), I wrote a list of where I'd like to be at age 35. Well, at age 37, my wife found this list and it's amazing how much of it actually happened. I guess it is true that when you write our your goals, you improve your chance of accomplishing them. Here is the list and my comment for each one...

The Year 2006:

My Parents will be in their 60's

Omi will be 87. (thankfully all are still alive and healthy - Omi turns 90 in April!)

- I'd like God to be smiling down on me. (pretty generic, but I still have an active prayer life - now more than ever.)

- I want to have a wife that will be my partner. (check)

- someone that loves to laugh...(oh yeah).

- I'd like to grow together (what does this mean? I guess so...)

- I want to be passionately in love (I won't go there in this blog :)

- I'd like to have 2 children (check)

- I want to be a loving, caring father (check)

- I want to be thinking positively (see title of my blog for the answer)

- I want to be improving (again, see title of my blog for the answer)

- I want to be educated about personal finances (Krissy and I just finished Financial Peace University this year and I'm always learning in this area. Thank you Dave Ramsey)

- I want to own my own marketing/consulting business (check - see www.goglobalentertainment.com, www.myquietime.com)

- I want to be setting my own business and personal schedule (check - although sometime Krissy sets it for me).

- I want to be financially independent (not quite there yet)

- I want to have a healthy, manageable lifestyle (well, I'm healthy, but I could be more balanced)

- I want to have washboard abs (nope. Not even close. I'll make a commitment to have those when I'm 40 - nothing like a little procrastination...)

- I want to still be on a disciplined workout schedule (I try).

- I want to take lots of weekend trips to the beach (define 'lots'? 2-3 times per year, but they are longer than a weekend).

- I want to go snorkeling in the ocean. (done)

- I want to go hiking in the mountains. (did a lot of that this summer).

- I want to have close friends (check).

- I want to be playing lots of golf and tennis (again, define 'lots'? Tennis 7 or 8x per month, Golf 1x per month if I'm lucky).

- I want to be challenged mentally and physically (a little too general - c'mon Eric! What did I know, I was only 25).

- I want to go on a missions trip (nope. Disappointed I haven't been on one yet).

- I want to make smart, well thought-out decisions - not impulsive one. (half a check for effort on this one).

- I want to make my parents proud. (Maybe they will comment on this one, but I think they would say they are).

Living for God's Glory

Romans 11:36 says "Everything comes from God alone.  Everything lives by his power, and everything is for his glory."

I'm reading The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren with my wife most evenings.  We were both profoundly affected by Chapter 7 last night titled 'The Reason For Everything'.  In the second paragraph, Warren explains it clearly: "The ultimate goal of the universe is to show the glory of God." 

He goes onto say later how we were made to glorify God and how we glory Him. 

As I read, I was reminded of what happened earlier that day in Carpenter's Kids (our 1st - 3rd grade children's ministry at The People's Church).  During one of the songs where I was leading worship, I sensed God's Spirit begin to flood the room.  I opened my eyes and I saw so many children sincerely worshipping their Creator with all of their heart.  It was a sweet moment - one I hope I will never forget.  I sensed the kids' hearts were sincerely loving God.  I could sense it in the room. 

There was a photo taken by Reba Johnson during that song.  I was not surprised to see little orbs of light surrounding the kids.  I'm sure someone people could explain how those orbs were created through the way the light refracted off the lens or something like that.  However, I believe those orbs are the angels and/or God's Spirit flooding the room with His glory. 

Nothing Fishy About Sea World San Antonio

I will try not to make this post appear as though I'm shamelessly plugging Sea World, but I'm going to do it anyway.

Sea World San Antonio was a great experience for our family. Within 10 minutes of entering the park, we had already accomplished our son, Kaden's, goal of touching a dolphin. That was worth every dime of the $45 entry fee per person.

Not only were we able to touch and feed dolphins, but we also saw a huge tank of sharks, laughed at the Sea Lion show and were astounded at the quality of the Viva show with Beluga whales and black striped dolphins mixed with fantastic human acrobatics and slapstick comedy. That was just the morning routine. After a reasonably priced lunch ($35.00 for the 4 of us), we headed back out and enjoyed some fantastic water rides especially the "Journey To Atlantis". We rode that ride 5 or 6 times before the day was through. What a rush!!

Did I mention October is a great time to go because there were hardly any lines? We didn't have to wait longer than 5 minutes to get on a ride.

The closer for us was the Believe show with Shamu and two other killer whales. Simply inspiring! Also, don't sit as close as we did. We got sprayed big time! We were all soaked in less than 50 degree water. Brrrrr.

I would highly recommend Sea World San Antonio! There's nothing fishy about this place!

Flag Football Frenzy

I've been blessed this year to coach a flag football team of exceptionally talented young boys.

It's truly one of the highlights of my week to coach our team of 7-8 year olds. Alex and Kaden play together. It's really fun to coach them both - they're both incredible players all the way around.

I also get to coach with one of my favorite people - Jeff Boesinger. Jeff and his wife, Lisa, their son Jake and daughter Kaylee are such great people and have truly become our best "flag football" friends. Jeff is a defensive specialist - he's only had one TD scored against him in 5 games.

On top of that, I get to coach 6 other great kids: Ryan, Eli, Ben, Joseph, Thomas and Spencer.

This truly is a special team and a special season. Not only are we 5-0 and have dominated about every game, but these boys also show great respect to their teammates and opposing team, they play great together and they are very talented.

This past weekend we played our rival team - the Falcons. The team is coached by one of my favorite people out on the fields - Brian Sullivan. He always prepares his team. I was very nervous going into the match-up. On top of that, Graham is also on his team. He and his parents are some of my favorite people also. I coached with Steve, Graham's dad, last season (Giants) and we had lots of fun. The game was tight after the first half. In the end, our team beat them 18-0, but it was a tough fight. Afterward, we all gathered together and Brian led a prayer for us all. That's one of the reasons why Brian is such a special coach. Even in defeat, he led us all in giving credit where credit is due.

Here's our team cheer:

Have FUN

Show RESPECT

Play TOGETHER

We Are TEXANS

We Are TEXANS

We Are TEXANS

ROAR!!!!

Coach Eric

Texas Two-step

Krissy, the boys and I have spent the last few days in Texas visiting with my parents.  First, we spent two days in Houston.  While there, we visited Space Center Houston.  It was fun, but they haven't changed much since we last were there in 2002.  We took a tram tour, landed the Space Shuttle on the simulator and watched a few movies about space and the future of NASA (Operation Constellation). 

Kaden and Alex rode a golf cart for the first time on the golf course and my dad paid for the boys to have golf lessons at Bay Oaks. 

Yesterday, we drove to San Antonio.  We spent a few hours visiting The Alamo.  Afterwards, the boys and I watched a IMAX movie about The Alamo called The Price of Freedom, while Krissy and my parents went shopping at The RiverCenter Mall.  I learned a lot about the history of Texas and the importance of the fall at The Alamo.  My favorite line in the movie was where Davy Crockett says "You may go to hell, I'm going to Texas".

Later, that evening we walked the RiverWalk downtown and had Italian dinner at Michellano's (I think that's what it was called).  We would have had Mexican, but we were all a little sick from the Taco Bell we ate earlier that day for lunch. 

Today, the grand finale - Sea World.  Kaden and Alex have been looking forward to going for weeks.  Kaden wants to touch the Dolphins. 

Maybe I'll write a post about it later!

Boys Backyard Space Adventures

Boys will be boys. We've made so many wonderful memories in our backyard.

One thing the boys do from time to time is build a space ship out of our patio furniture. This is one of my favorite creations from our boys yet.

They built a space ship with two cockpits for each of them. They must have spent 3 hours playing in that thing one afternoon.

Crazy Hair Day

Here are some pics of Alex and Kaden as they participated in this year's annual "Crazy Hair" day at school. Kaden did his usual "all spike". Alex, did his more conservative black streaks. The hair fits their personalities! I love 'em!

God and Anybody Else

"God and anybody else is an overwhelmingly powerful team." - Louie Giglio

Succeeding Through Self-Discipline

One of the joys I have had since I started working for myself is working with a wonderful Englishman named Bill Williams (Sir William Williams as I like to call him). He's always been a source of wisdom, reason and laughter since I started my business. Mr. Bill, as the boys call him, has been a true friend. He's taught me a great deal about loyalty and honor in business and personal life. Not only is he my business partner in Europe, but he's also a good friend.

Mr. Bill has started a blog. I encourage you to check it out once in a while. It's chock full of info on books and music and the Christian walk. One blog he's recently written is an inspirational one titled "Succeeding Through Self-Discipline". It talks about Rick Warren's book called God's Power To Change Your Life and 6 keys to living successfully in God's eyes through self-discipline. The six things are:

Successful people master their moods

Successful people watch their words

Successful people restrain their reactions

Successful people stick to their schedule

Successful people manage their money

Successful people manage their health

For the rest of the blog, check out, my dear friend, Bill Williams', iconnectdirect blog. If you're in England, Bill runs a fine online Christian shop called IconnectDirect.co.uk.

Autumn Is Here - Get R Done!

I just received my weekly Familyman Weekly email. This one stirred me and woke me up to the fact that my time with boys and together as a family is so precious. I'm going to take the next few weekends and make the most of the family time we have together! Dad's, read and enjoy and pass it on...

It’s a chilly morning here in Northern, IN. Just the way Hoosiers like it. The tractors are in the field, the leaves are just beginning to change, sweatshirts are out of storage, and the apple cider is flowing. Ahhh---there’s nothing better than autumn in Indiana.

There’s just something about fall that feels ‘familyish.’ Fathers pile up leaves and kids jump in them, marshmallows are roasted over campfires, and tractors pull giggling children on hayrides.

Maybe it’s the change in temperature or the fact that it gets darker earlier that drives families inside to light candles and snuggle under blankets. Whatever it is, autumn is one of God’s greatest gifts to dads and their families.

BUT it goes fast.

A couple of weekends and it’s gone.

So, Dad, if you’re planning to have a campfire, get it done. If you’re planning to pick pumpkins at a pumpkin patch, get it done. If you see your children raking leaves into a pile, show them how a pro does it. If your wife wants to go to a fall festival, go. If you’re thinking it would be fun to take a hike in a park, do it.

Autumn is here, but it won’t last long.

Get ‘R done!