I just finished a 15 mile bike ride in winds gusting to over 30 miles an hour. The ride took me an hour and fifteen minutes and included two incredibly steep hills. One of them was so steep that I had to traverse in order to keep from stopping. It was excruciating. Do you know what the hardest part of the ride was?

Getting out of bed!

The hardest part of almost any task or challenge we face is getting started. Just doing it! I am an expert at sitting on my rear analyzing how difficult a task is going to be. Agonizing over how long it will take and whether I will be able to do it to perfection. A friend of ours, who happens to run one of the most successful fortune five hundred companies in the world, put it well. Any thing worth doing is worth doing poorly the first time. JUST DO IT. You can always improve on it once you have started.

My friend Eric Alexander, helped guide the first blind man to the peak of Mt Everest. He had to do more than just dream about reaching the summit or worry because a blind man had never been on the summit before. It would have never happened if he had never taken that first step, crossed that first stream, established that first base camp.

What you got to do today?
What you got to do?
Apologize?
Exercise?
Run or have fun?
Read?
Ride?
Forgive and let Live?
Admit?
Commit?
Study and Learn?
What you got to do today?
What you got to do?

JUST DO IT!

No humans were hurt in the faking of the above photo.

Funny how a few letters in a word can change the meaning of the word and subsequently one’s outlook on life. My friend, Gloria Gaither said, “How we experience Christmas, depends greatly on whether we approach it with a spirit of expectation or a spirit of expectancy!” Most of us approach the holiday season with high expectations. We play it like a video clip in our mind. “Won’t it be wonderful to have the entire family together! It will be such a peaceful time of love and laughter.”

It doesn’t always pan out that way does it? Old wounds are uncovered, difficult personalities are encountered and turkeys are burned to a crisp, sometimes in the oven and sometimes in the living room. Expectant people somehow feel like they deserve a certain outcome so they expect it. I fall into that group by the way. Often our expectations are dashed and we end up feeling disappointed and blue. Conversely, people who live with expectancy are fully prepared for whatever might come and look for the blessing that God might bring from any situation. If people with expectations are often disappointed, people who live with expectancy are often surprised with joy.

High expectations are only valid when we look to God to provide in the midst of the real stuff of life. Rather than looking to the circumstances of life to fulfill our wants and needs.

Suddenly our focus changes……

from what we want to what He wants,

from what we can get, to what we can give,

from what we have planned to what He has planned for us.

O Lord help me look into your face this season with a spirit of expectancy.

Some things are just too weird for words. While riding four wheelers on remote logging road at 12,000 ft, we ran into this site. I don’t know what to say. I understand why he might be carrying mountain lion bait, but why the goggles?

I would love to hear some of your captions to this picture. As for me it was too weird for words.

I had never met Danny Abbott. But then my friend Charles Robinson, author of The silent Voice of Creation, invited me to watch him perform a ceremonial dance of healing at a traditional Native American memorial for Danny. The ceremony was conducted on a beautiful day atop Vail Pass. Breathtaking vistas and a lush carpet of wild flowers stretched in every direction. Storms rumbled but held a respectful distance.

Initially, I was supposed to be an observer, an outsider, but after hearing of Danny Abbott’s life, I hoped I would be allowed to be part of the ceremony to honor his memory. Evidently Danny’s family does not recognize anyone as an outsider. His sons welcomed Diane and me with sincere warmth and grace, gave us a ceremonial feather and invited us to join them in the prayer circle made up of close friends and family.

I was overwhelmed by the simplicity and beauty of the ceremony. The prayers and testimonials of love that were offered on that mountain top introduced me to Danny Abbott. His courage, persistence and love have been passed on to his sons. I got a further glimpse into the character of their father by watching them.

In the beauty and grace of Danny’s granddaughters and in the confident dignity of his grandson I saw more of the man Danny Abbott was.

In the loving tribute given by his brother, I learned that Danny Abbott was much more than an all star athlete. He was a warrior for all the right causes.

This beautiful ceremony, played out in a balance of Native American tradition, personal faith and love that I will never forget.

To my friend Charles Robinson, thank you for inviting me.

To David and Sierra and the family of Danny Abbott, thank you for your gracious welcome. Thank you for allowing us to join you in the prayer circle to help honor your dad, brother and grandfather.
As you scattered Danny’s ashes in the wind, I wept and silently thanked God for the blessing of getting to know……… the man I never met.

What you do today is the legacy you will leave for tomorrow.