My Service Light Is Getting Dim

Do you ever have those days or times when your service light goes dim?
You know the little red light in the corner eye that shows how much is left in your battey.
Well, mine is getting dim. Sometimes work and stuff and life just gets to ya'. And when it does you know that you need a jump start. Well sports fans, Captain Dave needs a jump start.

It seems like the only thing I really look forward to is what I get to do with Outside the Walls. Now I'm not talking about my family, I always enjoy my time with them. As a matter of fact today was the first Sunday afternoon that I have had off in a very long time. I spent most of it on the floor wrestling with Dylan, we had a blast. Christy was out at a bridal shower and Hayley fell asleep on the way home. The boys had a big time.

Apart from my family I am spent. I am having a difficult time motivating myself, maybe it is a sign, maybe I need a vacation, I don't know. What I do know is that God has made this men's ministry deal become so important to me that I really want to do just that. I don't know what that means or looks like but........I know that is where my heart is at.

So, any great suggestions on how to move on when you have been stuck would be appreciated.

Way busy and not a real good blogger

Well it has been a while I know but, as far as bloggers go, I'm a good reader.

My wife and kids have been out of town all week and I have been way busy.

Here is a really great thing that happened a couple of weeks ago. I was invited to go out to California to a training session at Every Man Ministries. Man what a great week. My buddy Wayne went with me and we had three days of very intense training on Intentional Men's Ministry. Man those guys do it right.

The Saddleback model is incredible and we got every bit of it handed to us. This was the very first of it's kind and was by invitation. We had six guys from across the U.S. whose hearts are all about Men's Ministry and transformation. We had a great time with Kenny Luck, Tom Crick and Howard Mazer. We even had Rick Warren walk in unexpected and give us about 20 minutes on his views of Men's Ministry. Wow, that was cool.

It is just wild what happens in a persons heart when God really gets a hold of it for His purposes. I just can't explain how much desire I have to very deeply involved in this area of ministry. There are lots of men out there who just don't know where to turn for help when the lions are about to cut them to shreds.

God is Large and in Charge and we can never lose sight of that. Lately, I have been asking these questions in classes 'How big is God?' and then 'How big is your god?'. Those are two very different questions. We may believe and say the God is in charge and that we trust Him. That is until the lions attack. Then, we have to fix things ourselves or doubt that God will come through. Often we get in His way and mess up the plan. Sometimes I think that He actually waits until the answer is just humanly impossible so He can show His glory.

Another cool thing happened last Sunday. I got back into the store after Sunday school and there were two people waiting for me. They asked if I was Dave and cautiously asked why?

They asked me about a book that I had featured called "In A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day". I pointed to it and told them that I was leading a class based on the book in our Men's Ministry. They said they were aware of that and introduced themselves. They were Mr. and Mrs. Batterson, the mom and dad of the author, Mark Batterson. They were really nice and quite blown away by the attention to their son's book. Wow, stuff has been cool lately.

A Real Lion Chaser

I have been given the pleasure of leading a class, along with a couple of fellow lion chaser, based on the book "In a Pit With a Lion on a Snowy Day".
So, the other night I was going through the book and writing down all of the characteristics of a 'Lion Chaser'. It is amazing how far I have to go to be a Lion Chaser. During all of this my four year old daughter starts to scream Daddy, Daddy. So, I ran to her rescue.
Later that night I was telling my wife about Lion Chasers and Hayley walks up and says "Daddy, you are a real Lion Chaser, you can kill bugs". A wasp had found its way into her bedroom.
I don't know if the author would have put this in the book but, at my house, a Lion Chaser kills bugs.

Where did that come from?

Started reading a new book, well new for me anyway.

In A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day by Mark Batterson.

It is a real good read if you have not seen it yet. A little seen almost obscure verse is so full of God's power.

The author really has challenged me.

I just wonder would I chase a lion into a pit on a snowy day? Not likely, I live in Florida and I hate snow but, it could be a Florida Panther on a rainy day.

Point is that this is a real good book and I would suggest reading it.

I pray that as my lions show up that I will be a lion chaser.

Thankful- Really Thankful

I now that everyone is talking about being thankful this weekend. All of that begs the question, what am I thankful for? What are you thankful for?
My life is really busy and crazy sometimes but, I wouldn't trade it for anything. God has truly blessed me with an incredible life. I have an Amazing Heavenly Father who loves me, way more than I deserve. He overlooks all of my faults and allows me to carry on-everyday.
I have a wonderful wife who also overlooks most of my faults, she does call attention to some that are especially unnerving. I have a beautiful daughter who thinks that I can fix anything and kill any yucky bugs that invade her world. To Hayley new batteries in her toys constitute fixing stuff. I love being her Daddy. My little boy is really getting fun, Dylan already makes eyes at the chicks, he'll be a real smoothie one day. Just like his Dad.
I have been blessed to have a few really great friends who I just love to be around and share life with. It doesn't really matter if we are all close in proximity all of the time, I know that I can count on them and I hope that they can count on me. For guys, a Band of Brothers is so important. Thankful is a state of mind and I don't mind my state at all. It is a great place. To those who are a part of it- I surely love you all and thanks for making my world wonderful.

On the way to God today.......

The information that we have about the life of Jesus is so valuable. What a treasure we have been given. His life is a lesson. That makes me wonder about what kind of lesson my life is to those who are watching.
I had an aha moment today. I taught Sunday school and tried a new approach. In a set of verses that teach us one lesson there lies a valuable message that was given to me. God used this lesson to bring comfort and direction to a lady who was visiting for the first time. Not just our class, I mean Sunday school as I understand it. She has just given her life to Christ.
She lost her husband recently and said that the message toady was just what she needed to hear in order to have some perspective on how to move on with life.
What a humbling experience it is to be used by God.
In whatever we do we should strive to be His light in a dark world. Let His light shine through you. If your eyes are bright with His light then so will be your heart. Let your heart guide you and every once in a while look yourself in the mirror and ask "How's your heart?"
How's that Tina????

What now???

Sometimes there is a real struggle between the vision that we see for our lives and reality. That whole battle has me quite perplexed at this point. I read a great book last night about leadership. It is by one of my favorite authors called 'Making Vision Stick' by Andy Stanley. I was really haunted when I read the last paragraph and found that he was talking to me directly. It is just incredible how God puts the smallest things in our laps and they have HUGE impact. As always, we'll just wait on His timing and see what unfolds.