And the list continues...
6. I've had three dreams of what I'd like to accomplish in life. The first was to be a country music singer, but I can't carry a tune in a bucket. The second was to play major league baseball, but I couldn't hit my body weight against good pitching. The third was to be Governor of South Carolina, but I've really grown sour on the idea of running for office although I haven't totally ruled it out. (my wife has though...LOL)
7. Speaking of politics, I served two terms the State Chairman of College Republicans in SC and I was the youngest delegate from South Carolina to the 2000 GOP National Convention in Philadelphia. (Strom Thurmond was the oldest)
8. I like to drive fast. I've been to numerous race car driving schools and I don't mean the thing where you go follow an instructor for 10 laps and get a certificate. I'm talking about multi-day things where they teach you how to go fast. I'm able to achieve a focus when I'm behind the wheel of race car that I can't achieve anywhere else. Trying not to get killed will do that to a man I guess.
9. Making my wife laugh is one of the simple pleasures in life that I hope I never take for granted again.
10. I have many limitations as a man, but one of the biggest ones is that I may be the least "handy" man to ever be born into my family. It's so bad that sometimes when friends are doing handyman projects they will call me and ask if I'd like to come over and get in the way.
More to come later.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Saturday, May 14, 2011
25 Random things about me (first installment)
I did this list back when it was going around Facebook a couple of years ago...figured I'd repost because I've made a lot of new friends since then.
1. I'm a country bumpkin. Let's get that straight right off the bat. I hunt, fish, like Nascar, drive a tractor, and I've castrated pigs on the farm. And though she isn't as country as I am, my wife once clogged at the Grand Ole' Opry when she was a girl. That's bona fide!
2. Having children is the greatest thing I've ever done. Words can't describe how much I love them.
3. The most important days to come in my life will be the days when my kids accept Christ as their savior. Living an example of Christian faith in front of my children is the most important priority in my life.
4. A good steak and my Mom's onion rings has been my favorite meal for as long as I can remember.
5. I am unapologetically Southern, and it's a good thing too because my accent kind of makes it difficult to pretend to be anything else. Keep your stinkin' yankee oatmeal. I'll be eating grits.
Be looking for 6-10 next week.
1. I'm a country bumpkin. Let's get that straight right off the bat. I hunt, fish, like Nascar, drive a tractor, and I've castrated pigs on the farm. And though she isn't as country as I am, my wife once clogged at the Grand Ole' Opry when she was a girl. That's bona fide!
2. Having children is the greatest thing I've ever done. Words can't describe how much I love them.
3. The most important days to come in my life will be the days when my kids accept Christ as their savior. Living an example of Christian faith in front of my children is the most important priority in my life.
4. A good steak and my Mom's onion rings has been my favorite meal for as long as I can remember.
5. I am unapologetically Southern, and it's a good thing too because my accent kind of makes it difficult to pretend to be anything else. Keep your stinkin' yankee oatmeal. I'll be eating grits.
Be looking for 6-10 next week.
Monday, May 9, 2011
Truly Amazing People
This past Saturday night was about as good as it gets for me in watching sports. I got to watch two friends executing in their sport at the highest level. I flipped between watching my friend Ray Allen and the Boston Celtics put a whipping on the Miami Heat on ABC and seeing Kasey Kahne leading the most laps in the #4 Red Bull Toyota at the Southern 500 on Fox. I've been fortunate to have several friends who either are or were formerly professional athletes but I'd never been able to flip between watching two of them at the same time. I have to admit that I went to bed Saturday right proud of myself for being so connected to such famous, successful and amazing people.
On Sunday morning I got up and took the family to church. We'd been in Sunday School for about 5 minutes when God hit me up side my head with a 2 X 4 of truth and perspective. Two stories were told in our sharing time prior to the lesson that put some perspective on what being an amazing person really is all about. (I will share the stories here with first name only to preserve privacy)
My friend Robin teaches 4 year old kindergarten in Irmo, SC. She had shared with us some weeks previously about a girl in her class whose mother was in the midst of a very complicated pregnancy that was going to require her to be hospitalized in Pennsylvania up until she gave birth. She was going to have to be away from her family for several months. Robin updated us on the situation Sunday. She first shared that all was going as well as could be expected medically under the circumstances. Then she shared that the family member who had been caring for the girl in her mother's absence was being forced to return home. There had been some uncertainty as to what would happen because the child's father had a demanding work schedule and could not afford to lose his job. Finally, she told us that she and her husband had decided that they would take the little girl in until her mother returns from the hospital. She and her husband asked the group to pray for them and their children as they prepared for this opportunity to show the love of Christ to these people in tremendous need.
Before anyone could really comment on this another Brother asked that we would be in prayer for another class member named Chris because of what he had done on Friday. Many in the class didn't know what Chris had done so it had to be recounted for everyone. Chris is active in prison ministry. Over the past year, he had befriended a man on death row who had been found guilty of three murders, the last of which had actually occurred in prison. As I understood it, Chris had a hand in leading this man to Christ. The man had been scheduled for execution Friday evening for his crimes and as part of the preparation that does along with that, he got to pick one person to come spend the last 10 hours of his life with him in his cell. The man chose Chris. Chris spent from 8AM to 6PM on Friday with his friend and didn't leave his side until they came to take him to the death chamber.
As our class secretary wound up the sharing time with a prayer and I stood to teach, the Lord convicted me about my misplaced pride from Saturday night and I had to confess it to our class.
Now I don't want it to seem like I'm implying anything negative about Ray and Kasey. They are both humble, hard working, charitable and worthy of admiration for the excellence they display in their fields. But what I was struck with so powerfully was the immense nature of what these two people right in my very own Sunday School class were doing and how easy it is to get caught up in pride about the temporary and worldly things we do instead of rightly focusing on the things we do that count for eternity.
I'm so thankful to know and serve with people like Robin and Chris. They are truly amazing.
On Sunday morning I got up and took the family to church. We'd been in Sunday School for about 5 minutes when God hit me up side my head with a 2 X 4 of truth and perspective. Two stories were told in our sharing time prior to the lesson that put some perspective on what being an amazing person really is all about. (I will share the stories here with first name only to preserve privacy)
My friend Robin teaches 4 year old kindergarten in Irmo, SC. She had shared with us some weeks previously about a girl in her class whose mother was in the midst of a very complicated pregnancy that was going to require her to be hospitalized in Pennsylvania up until she gave birth. She was going to have to be away from her family for several months. Robin updated us on the situation Sunday. She first shared that all was going as well as could be expected medically under the circumstances. Then she shared that the family member who had been caring for the girl in her mother's absence was being forced to return home. There had been some uncertainty as to what would happen because the child's father had a demanding work schedule and could not afford to lose his job. Finally, she told us that she and her husband had decided that they would take the little girl in until her mother returns from the hospital. She and her husband asked the group to pray for them and their children as they prepared for this opportunity to show the love of Christ to these people in tremendous need.
Before anyone could really comment on this another Brother asked that we would be in prayer for another class member named Chris because of what he had done on Friday. Many in the class didn't know what Chris had done so it had to be recounted for everyone. Chris is active in prison ministry. Over the past year, he had befriended a man on death row who had been found guilty of three murders, the last of which had actually occurred in prison. As I understood it, Chris had a hand in leading this man to Christ. The man had been scheduled for execution Friday evening for his crimes and as part of the preparation that does along with that, he got to pick one person to come spend the last 10 hours of his life with him in his cell. The man chose Chris. Chris spent from 8AM to 6PM on Friday with his friend and didn't leave his side until they came to take him to the death chamber.
As our class secretary wound up the sharing time with a prayer and I stood to teach, the Lord convicted me about my misplaced pride from Saturday night and I had to confess it to our class.
Now I don't want it to seem like I'm implying anything negative about Ray and Kasey. They are both humble, hard working, charitable and worthy of admiration for the excellence they display in their fields. But what I was struck with so powerfully was the immense nature of what these two people right in my very own Sunday School class were doing and how easy it is to get caught up in pride about the temporary and worldly things we do instead of rightly focusing on the things we do that count for eternity.
I'm so thankful to know and serve with people like Robin and Chris. They are truly amazing.
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