It's Christmas

It's Christmas, and I'm wiped out! There is just so much going on. It's tiresome, but at the same time I love it. What can be better than spending hours with family and friends? I think I have 2 free days over the next 7, so essentially those 2 days are planned as well since we'll have to do everything we can't do on our planned days.

I really enjoy being busy, but I equally enjoy having no plans. I like not having to rush somewhere or being on a schedule. I like being able to wake up and say "What do I want to do today?". At the same time, I like having plans. I like to know what I'm going to be doing that day.

Thus, the dilemma. How to divide time. I thought it was easy for awhile. More and more it seems there is so much going on. I can think of dozens of people I haven't hung out with in months or years, and I miss them. At the same time, we've also gone down different roads. Where we used to go to the same church, we attend different churches now. They have kids, and we don't. Jobs are differents. Houses are different and bigger. It's the natural change of life.

How do we keep it together? How can we keep everyone close? I think the answer is that we can't, so we shouldn't let it bother us. There are season in life, and there are seasons in our relationships. We may be close one day, and you wake up 6 months later and you haven't talked in months.

I can remember Christmases spent with friends and family only a few years ago, and the people I hang out with now are nearly 100% different. I'm happy, but at the same time I would give just about anything to spend time with those who are now distant. Those are the people who helped me become me. They were there in some of my tough times. They were there in some of my happy times. We laughed together. We were angry together. We went out together. We were a part of each other's lives.

So though I feel melancholy right now, I really have never been happier. I have the world's greatest wife. I have the world's greatest in-laws. I have the world's best parents. My brother and sister have married their world's greatest, and have the world's greatest kids. The nephews and niece bring alot of joy to my life. I have the world's greatest dog.

So what do I do? I try to spend time with those who have become distant, but spend my time pouring into the ones who are close today. You never know when the road splits, and the ones who are close today become the ones distant in the future.

Merry Christmas

Joey Ballgame was flawless tonight

I went to Lions night at Kensington tonight. Joey Harrington and a few of the Lions were there. Joey Ballgame played the piano...very well I might add. Jon McGraw played to violin or fiddle. They talked about the NFL. They talked about the pressures.
Joey opened up about the tough couple seasons he's had. They all talked about leaning on the church and Jesus.
Pastor Dave applauded the guys on the high road they've all taken this year while they have been put down, and talked about on TV and radio.
The pastor talked about the parable of the talents. He made some great points. He said to give God the glory. Give God your best.
I came away pretty inspired. Not so much from they professional athletes being up there, but by the service. Kensington really seemed in tune with people. I saw a packed Wednesday night service with people praising and worshipping God. I haven't seen that in ages. Granted, many of the people came to see the Lions.
But it was cool to be witness to a church busting at the seams. They're planting churches everywhere. They are financially backing other churches. They are getting the Word out, and people are coming out. They're looking beyond their property and saying what does this generation need? Not what do we have to offer, but what do they need?
It really got me thinking. Going back to the talents....we all have them. What are we doing with them? Are we using them? Are we using them for God's glory? Are we doing the best we can with them? Or are we serving ourselves with them?

Little Ones

Bryce Michael
Lillian Collette
Tobin Carter

Little Ones

You’re so innocent.
You’re so precious.
You’re not my own.
But you bless me.
I love your laughter.
I love to see you learn.
I love to see you grow.
I love holding you.
I love talking to you.
I love chasing you.
You live life as it should be lived.
And you don’t even know it.
You’re not afraid to ask questions.
You’re not afraid to laugh.
You’re not too proud to cuddle.
You take your little naps.
You don’t care about looks.
Boys, you’ll go play in the mud.
You take time away from your games
To give us a hug.

I’m sorry for the world you’re gonna grow up in.
It’s tough.
It’s rough.
But always remember your family.
Remember your God.
They will be there though it all.
Love God with all your heart.
Love Him with everything you have.
He’ll never leave you or forsake you.
He’ll lead you and guide you.
He’ll always be by you.
Don’t ever be afraid to call on Him.
He will hear.
Be careful what you wish for.
You just might get it.
And it won’t be how you expected to get it.
Learn from it.
Grow from it.
Honor your mother and father.
It’s the first commandment with promise.
They love you and always will.
I promise.
Tell them you love them.
Hug them.
Play with them.
Nothing else makes their day.
Listen to them.
Respect them.
They know what’s best for you.
When they tell you “No,”
It’s to protect you from harm.
Or keep you from a spank on the behind.
Remember they probably did the same thing.
They either got punished or hurt
And learned their lesson.
No sense both of you go through it.
You’re parents will get weirder.
Live with it.
You’ll be like them in 30 years.
Have fun.
Smile.
Don’t let life bring you down
Don’t stay down.
Pick yourself up.
Go back to it.
God will reward your diligence.
Dream.
Dream until you can’t dream anymore.
Dream big dreams.
Dream unbelievable dreams.
Be a princess.
Be an astronaut.
Be a fireman.
Be a dinosaur.
Dream.
Be a kid as long as you can.
No need to rush growing up.
Don’t outgrow Grandpa’s tractor.
Someday you’ll realize he doesn’t need it for his backyard.
But how else is he gonna cut a path to Meijer?
Be who you are.
Be who God created you to be.
Laugh.
Take naps with Grandpa.
Chase the dog.
Don’t play with your food.
Eat right.
Don’t eat a lot of sugar
Eat your vegetables.
They taste awful but are good for you.
They’re is more to eating the chicken nuggets.
Take that coming from a guy who only ate burger till he was 16.
Bryce, Keep wearing your helmet.
Boys, Buzz your heads.
Tobin, Watch out for Elephants.
But remember they’re one of Gods’ creations.
Lilly. Always be silly.
I hope you keep your eyes.
And thank you for the smiles.

Bryce.
You’re the oldest of the next generation of this family.
You have a responsibility.
It’s an honor. Be proud of it.
They may outgrow you someday.
But you’ll always be big brother.
You’ll always be the oldest cousin.
They’ll always look up to you.
You’ll set the trend.
Good or bad, they’ll always be compared to you.
It’s part of being first.
Keep smiling.
Keep laughing.
Keep loving.
Don’t’ out grow being momma’s pal.
Always be Daddy’s buddy.
Take care of Lilli when the time arises.
You may not always like her.
But love her. She looks up to you.

Tobin,
Never lose that energy.
Bounce.
Jump.
Keep moving.
Don’t let life slow you down.
When you become a big brother,
Make sure you teach them the ropes.
You’re a walking miracle.
You’re healthy.
You’re healed.
You’re a PK.
Trust me, it’ll be tough.
But you have a responsibility too.
More will be expected of you.
You’ll always be an example.
Cherish it.
You can change and effect a lot of lives in that position.
Prepare yourself to succeed your Dad.
It might not happen.
But there’s a good chance it will.
Jump into Mommas arms as long as you can
It makes her so happy.
Be a Mommas boy
And never forget.
Don’t ever forget.
To pray to Jesus before you go to bed.

Lilli.
Always be silly.
Sorry I couldn’t pass up that rhyme again.
You’re the first princess.
And if another girl doesn’t come along,
You ARE the princess.
Use it to your advantage when you must
But don’t use it so much that others get upset with you.
Don’t let the boys tell you that you can’t do something.
Play sports.
Beat them.
Don’t be afraid to play with dolls.
Don’t be afraid to be lady.
But be who you are.
Be strong.
Be daddy’s girl.
Let him protect you.
Let Bryce stand up for you.
Your mom will be your best friend.
Go shopping with her.
Trust her.
Love her.

This is much longer than I intended.
But so much was on my heart.
Me and Aunt Eliza love you.
We look forward to seeing you.
Don’t worry.
Someday we’ll have a cousin or 2 for you.
I’ll tell them the same things I’m telling you.
Stay precious.
Stay innocent.
Be little ones.

Random Thoughts

It's been a few days since I posted, but here are some things I've been thinking....

I still wish I could be Superman.

Money is great, but if we don't have friends and family, what do we really have? I'll take my condo, wife, dog, families and friends anyday of the week.

Games and competition are great. I think they reveal who we really are.

Life is awesome. I took a little sledding trip with Ben (my bro), Craig (bro in law) and their boys Bryce and Tobin. What a blast! Little 3 and 2 year olds running around, but not wanting to get snow in their face. The imaginations these guys have too! Kinda wish I was that old again.

Found a cool website. HappyNews.com. They only post good news!

Pride really does come before a fall. I started talking trash in one of my fantasy football leages after I set the highest point total record. I think I'm 1-3 since then. Further proof, my boy Randy started talking trash after the draft and it looks like he's going to miss the playoffs in both leagues! When are we going to learn?

We tell everyone they are entitled to their own opinion, and they are. But how can everyone be right? They can't be. Some of the best conversations to watch are ones when both parties know beyond the shadow of a doubt they are right, but they have opposing opinions. Good stuff.

MERRY CHRISTMAS! MERRY CHRISTMAS! MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Liza and I had a Target worker wish us a Merry Christmas a couple weeks ago. God bless her because I don't think they are supposed to say Merry Christmas.

We set up our CHRISTMAS tree on Friday. We watched a good CHRISTMAS movie...Elf on Friday. We bought a new CHRISTMAS ornament with our friends last night.

AJ/Julie. Trev/Sheryl. Justin/Renee. We had a great time last night! Looking forward to next year already.

Everyday we have a choice. Technically we have many choices, but the first choice of the day is to have a good day or a bad day. All the other ones fall in line after that. Choose to have a good day and see what happens.

Practice, Practice, Practice

It’s weird. I’ve been very introspective lately. There are times when I get this way and it must look like my eyes glaze over. But it’s one of those things where every situation causes me sit back and wonder.

For instance, I watched praise and worship at church last night. Liza warned me it might be a struggle, but I thought she was being facetious. But she was right. It seemed like the group could not get together. Everyone was trying hard, everyone appeared like they wanted to do well. It just wasn’t working out. I could tell Lize was embarrassed, and I really felt for her.

I know there was a new song in the set, and that seemed to be the biggest problem. It was obvious that they hadn’t practiced it enough. Liza picks things up quickly. Plus, she’s been doing praise and worship, and singing for years. Because of that she can wait until the last minute, learn it and do it. Some people can’t. That’s why there is a need to practice. Practice until you get it right.

Then I thought about our friend Sheryl and her volleyball squad. She’s coaching high school volleyball this year. It’s interesting to hear her talk about practice. It seems kids don’t want to practice these days. They want to show up, play ball, and have fun. They don’t want to practice. They don’t want to work. What separates the achievers in life? Practice and hard work. Michael Jordan. Tiger Woods. They had talent, but people who know them say they practiced harder than everyone else. They outworked everyone else. I believe Larry Bird once said he practiced hard because he knew if he wasn’t, someone else was practicing and getting better than him.

Practice develops your skills. Practice makes you better. Practice makes perfect.

There are other people who have loads have talent but don’t want to work at anything. They prefer to coast and be “just good enough”. They have “potential” and they usually get tagged as being a waste of talent.
I don’t want people to look at me and see a waste of talent. I don’t want to have people say, “If Nate only applied himself….” I want God to tell me I did a job well done. I want to use the talent He put in me before I was even born.

The Bible says “Be excellent at what is good…..” It says “Study to show thy self approved…” I may be taking these out of context, but the implication is not. I believe God wants us to try our best, give our best, and be our best for Him. That means we have to practice. We have to practice reading our Bibles. We have to practice praying more. We have to practice loving others. We have to practice serving others. We have to practice living a Godly life.

We can’t just show up and when the lights come on, expect to be right on. Some people can do that, but most can’t. Those who can, have done it over and over. They have experience.

I think this was a defining moment for Lize. As she talked about what happened, she mentioned that it’s on her. She was leading and it starts at the top. She clearly saw that though she can do it, the ones she was working with needed more practice. And she should’ve practice more with them. I’m looking forward to the next time she leads. It will be good.

Man's Best Friend

Heeeeeeeeeeere's Tiger. This is my dog. Dude is crazy, but he brings alot o love and laughter to me and the family. He's been with us 8 years and has no signs of slowing down. That's 56 in dog years, so he should probably be moving out of my parents house in the near future. I think he's waiting for me and Lize to get out of the condo and into our own house.

Me and the Mrs.

On our honey moon, not too long ago. Yes, we are still in this good of shape! I WISH!! I'm so out of shape these days. Liza and I have been married since August 29 of 03. Still newleyweds in our book. She's a source of constant encouragement and joy. She makes life fun and interesting. She's a mean cook, a competitive game player (cheater.....), and a wonderful wife.

The Man, The Myth, The Legend

Terry S. Allen
My uncle through marriage, my choir director, and all around good guy when he isn't destroying me in Fantasy Football. Somehow, someway Ronde Barber leads his team to the "almost" championship. Seeing we're coming into the homestretch of the NFL season, I figured what better photo to post while trying to figure all this blogging out.

My first attempt

Well, I've just entered the world of blogging. Let's see how this goes. If anyone has any thoughts, suggestions or advice. Please post.