Invisible Children – Please Watch!!!

Please take 30 minutes of your day today and watch this powerful video regarding Jospeph Kony and his crimes against the children of Uganda. #kony2012

Grace

I hope and pray that your holiday season was everything you hoped it would be. Someone you run into today will be in need of grace…in the spirit of the holiday season I ask that you pass some on to them. It’s a new year!

So alive

Today

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23

Note to self:

“We need more chairs” – a few thoughts on funerals, life, being selfless

We need more chairs

I attended the funeral of a friend and coworker the other day. She lost a long battle with cancer, and while her death is grieved, there is consolation in knowing that there is no more suffering. While at the funeral I heard something that really struck me as profound. It was nasty outside – typical for Ohio in December – the rain was falling, and mud was caking up my dress shoes as I walked into the funeral home. In the midst of the foyer area people were pulling off their wet coats, women were crying softly while holding onto their husband’s arms, and funeral home workers were directing guests into the main seating area. While this was going on I noticed the daughter of my friend making her way towards the main funeral director (he was a distinguished looking old man with a tie on and a badge on his lapel – he had the distinct funeral director look) with a panicked and determined look on her face. I stood there as she walked up to him in a rush and made this statement: “We need more chairs.” Now, I realize that normally this is not a very profound statement; there are plenty of events we attend on a daily basis that may require more seating for the attendees; a church service, a concert, a work meeting, or perhaps a classroom. As soon as the words rolled off of her lips though, I thought to myself “I hope they need more chairs at my funeral”. This poor young lady has lost her mother and this was no doubt an extremely sad day in her life. At the same time, this little statement of desperation was such a testament to her mother – there were so many people touched by her short life that more chairs were needed at her funeral. Her impact on her world was so great that there wasn’t enough seating for everyone coming to pay their respects. Her reach was so vast that people were going to have to stand in the back of the room unless something was done quickly. This isn’t to say that a person’s worth in life should be judged by the amount of people attending their funeral; however, I do believe that maybe there is something to be gleaned from this statement that could be very eye opening for most of us.
The pastor repeatedly spoke about my friend’s selflessness throughout the funeral service – her putting herself above others on a consistent basis. She found out about her cancer during the Christmas season and refused to tell at first because she didn’t want to ruin Christmas for anyone. She held her secret in, one that was no doubt devastating and completely life changing, because she didn’t want to burden her friends or family during the holiday season. I stopped into the local gas station the day after the funeral and the owner asked me who had passed away at our place of employment. When I told him who it was (she was a loyal customer of his) he was shocked – this entire time he never knew she had cancer. He saw her on a weekly basis for years and never knew! Not because he didn’t care but because she never told him; and based on the sermon at the funeral I’m not surprised.
What am I doing on a daily basis to impact my world? And, am I living a life of putting others before myself? The ugly truth is that I needed to hear my friend’s daughter ask for more chairs. It smacked me right in the face – a cold hard punch of a reminder that there is more to this life than what I think. If I’m honest, even as a husband and a father, my general concern is for myself. I believe this is our brokenness, the fall of man, that ugly inside each and every one of us. The good news is that it doesn’t have to be this way. We can change; we can learn to put others in front of us; we can be like my friend and need a few more chairs at our funeral.

baseball

My sweet fiance snagged up some Akron Aeros tickets for this weekend and we’re taking Tryn with us!  This is a monumental occasion because it will be the first time he’s attended a professional baseball game in his entire life.  As much as I’m a music guy now, I have a huge spot in my heart for baseball – it was the main thing my father and I bonded over when I was young.  I played baseball, collected baseball cards, watched the games on TV, studied the statistics; I lived it everyday.  So naturally this is something I want to pass on to my son as well – the best game on earth.  I am definitely aware of the fact that I will probably enjoy this first experience much more than he will (he’s definitely still in superhero mode…which I can assure you never goes away), however, I’m really hoping this is a memorable experience for him.  That maybe someday when he has a son or a daughter of his own, he will think back to a fond memory of he and his dad at a game and how much it meant to both of us.

Now if we can just keeping it from freakin’ raining on Sunday afternoon….