Veronica's Eyes

I have not had much time to post thoughts about my Honduras trip. I am working on another video that I hope to have up by the end of this week.

Here is a picture that I cannot get away from. I have it as the backdrop on my work and personal computer. This is Veronica. She had one of the most contagious laughs. I loved taking pictures of her and then showing her. She would bend over laughing at it and then want another picture taken.

Every time I see this picture, I find myself staring into her eyes. I think it is the hope I see in them at keeps drawing me in. I met her in a village (I cannot even begin to spell it!) where we passed out clothes. We also had a craft for the kids (fruit loop necklaces).

Some Special Teens

We have some special teens at our church.

The more I spend time with them, the more impressed I am by them. Three of the teens (Lindsey Marks, Sarah Joseph, and Jordan Stancil) all came up to our Camden County Campus this morning to join us in worship. I appreciated their encouragement and so did the members of that campus.

Not only did they come up, but they want to help out however they can. They want to help with the kids and youth ministries on this smaller campus.

OK...all of that is cool, but it doesn't compare to their compassionate heart.

Two Saturdays ago, Lindsey and Jordan decided they wanted to serve our community so they went and bought bread and stuff to make sandwiches. After making about 30 lunches they went downtown Jacksonville to pass them out to those who were homeless and hungry.

That is being the hands and feet of God. It is easy to walk away or to put ideas like that in the back of your mind while getting busy with something else. Instead, they acted on the idea. They put their faith in action.

In doing so, they set an example for all other believers to follow.

To those teens: For what it is worth...I am so proud to be friends with you guys!!!!

Honduras Trip A Great Success!!

For the next several days I will be posting pics and videos from the trip I just returned from. It was another incredible experience in Honduras.

I return with a renewed passion for life, love, serving and God!

Many of the children and youth at my church donated soccer jerseys, shoes, balls, and other equipment for us to take and deliver. Here is a video for them.

Power of Positive Energy

I recently signed up to receive an e-newsletter from Jon Gordon, author of The Energy Bus. This is a book I have been looking for in our local bookstores, but they have been sold out...I think that is a sign of a good book! I guess I will have to order it online.

His e-newsletter today was something everyone needs to read...especially if you are involved in sports at any level. Here is an excerpt:

The Secret to Winning
This past Friday, Jacksonville Jaguars Head Coach Jack Del Rio shocked the sports world by announcing that they were releasing Byron Leftwich, their starting quarterback, and replacing him with David Garrard. Coach Del Rio stated that he not only thought Garrard was the better quarterback but that he also brought more “positive energy” to the position and team. He said, “positive energy is something we covet.”

Del Rio, like all great leaders and coaches knows an important secret. If you want to win, ironically, you don’t focus on winning. You focus on the positive energy and attitude and development of your people and team.

John Wooden, the legendary UCLA Basketball Coach, never focused on winning. He focused on developing his players. He focused on improving their fundamentals, skills, character and team work. He focused on people instead of outcomes and as a result he won….a lot.

...Whether its football, basketball, work or life, winning doesn’t happen by focusing on the points on the scoreboard. It happens when we focus on the people, skills, positive energy and teamwork that generate the points.

You can check out the entire article at http://www.jongordon.com/newsletter-090307-SecretToWinning.html.

Lessons Learned From A Gator Game

Yesterday I had a 'Top 10' moment in life. I went to my first University of Florida football game.

It was their first game back at The Swamp since winning the BCS National Championship in January.

I went to the game with my father-in-law. We received tickets to the game from Carrie's sister. They were in the Touchdown Terrace which is in the north end zone. Our seats were incredible!

Being my first college football game, I really had no idea what to expect. When I thought about the game in the days leading up to it, I would get anxious. It would be a lot of new experiences, like the crowd...the parking...the crowd...finding the seats...the campus...the crowd (there were about 90,000 people at the game!).

Have you thought about some of the thoughts going through the mind of those going to your church or ministry for the first time? Think about that in relation to what made my experience so great.

• First was the personal invitation. When my father-in-law called to invite me to the game I couldn't believe it.

• Kimmie, my sister-in-law, is awesome!! She took care of all the details. We knew exactly where to go to park (at her boyfriend's place for free!) and meet her. She waited behind on us instead of going with her boyfriend and other friends for some pre-game fun so that we would know exactly where to go.

• To make sure I got the full experience (her dad has been to games before), Kimmie walked us around to see some of the fun hot spots around the stadium. She introduced us to several people along the way.

• She took us to the spot where her friends were all at and introduced us to everyone. They gave us a bottle of water and made us feel welcome.

• David, Kimmie's boyfriend, made sure we knew exactly where to go for our seats. They were great seats...did I mention that! We had an indoor air conditioned area with food and drinks and the seats were covered.

Do your visitors have that type of experience? What about those who come to your program (sports or whatever) for the first time? Every now and then we need a check up to make sure we are making the best first impression.