Advice from Dad

"If you sleep with dogs, you are going to get fleas". Translation: life is all about who you associate yourself with. Point taken!

"Pigs get fat, hogs get butchered". Translation: It is ok to enjoy life's good offerings, but certainly don't take advantage of anyone or anything.

"Don't let me find out from anyone other than you". Translation: Don't hide anything or else you'll get your butt whooped. Got it!

"I'm here for a good time, not a long time!" Translation: Don't take life too seriously...have FUN!

"Don't be a hero, take a cab." Translation: Don't drink and drive. Thanks, Dad. I think that's a law, too.....

"Execution equals Impact". Translation: Whatever you do, do it well. Do it right. And have fun doing it.

And lastly, "Love you". Translation: He's a good (actually, great) Dad.

I'm lucky to be able to spend this Father's day with my Dad. A lot of people aren't as fortunate as me (my wife, for starters). I won't take it for granted. I am lucky to have a Dad as great as mine. For those of you who don't have a father who is alive or a part of your life, know that God loves you and is your great Father. I'm just lucky to have two.

Until next time, go golfing, fishing, hiking, whatevering with your Dad. You won't regret it.

I love you, Daddio!

The Thing Behind The Thing

Makes a lot of sense, right? #nope. Do you get what I mean when I say that? #thethingbehindthething. That's exactly what it is, according to my brilliant wife. When I was trying to explain Twitter to her a few weeks ago, she asked about the #. The hash mark. It is kind of hard to explain, really. Do you do the # thing to make a point? To say something funny? #ihavenoidea. It's very ambiguous. Mysterious, really. #letsmoveon

What has "The Trio" been up to this week? #lotsofthings. So far, Jamie has taken over the role as "Interior Decorator". It seems like every day I come home from work and something has been done to the apartment. It's like a game...they stand there, looking at me, wondering if I'll figure out what moved. #kitchentableANDhalltable. Or why am I suddenly staring at myself when I walk in the door? #theyboughtahugemirror. So far, I love the changes. This is something I recommend to all. Change things up every once in a while, it will surprise you how much energy is inserted into an already lived-in space.

We have also been fairly active. We did another Portland Hill Walk (NW neighborhoods, Forest Park, lovely). Ashley and Jamie have been walking all over the city every day. We also roamed the West Hills #hugehouses #wanttolivethere. Last weekend we even went down and watched the Portland Rose Parade, and today we were lucky enough to go to Cirque du Soleil! #thankscarrie

All in all, it has been a great #start to the month. Wait...did I mess that up#? The thing behind the thing? #dangit! # Crap!

Until next time, enjoy your company. #won'tbehereforever

Our duo is now a trio!

Nope, we are not preggers. Settle down! But we do have some exciting news to report...we have a visitor! Ashley's sister Jamie decided to spend a month with us in Portland and she came in yesterday!

This is exciting for a number of reasons. For starters, it is nice to have more family around us. We love family. We love spending time with family members, so this is perfect! Second, we love mixing things up. I am a firm believer that shaking your world up for a little bit keeps it exciting. Ashley and I have never had a roommate before. We have hardly had anyone stay with us! So this will definitely change up "the routine" and I'm looking forward to it. And lastly, Jamie is a huge breath of fresh air. She is funny, exciting, sporadic and above all she just loves life.

Surely we will have some stories to tell. Hopefully we'll have great adventures. But I do know one thing: we're glad she's here. Welcome to Oregon, Jam Jam! Until next time, shake things up. It will be fun!

TIMBERRRRR!!!!!(s)

If you haven't been to a Portland Timbers game yet, simply put - you need to go. Find a way to get tickets. Beg your friend who belongs to the Mac Club. Hound a scalper. Do what it takes! But you need to go. Here's why.

- Because there are about 5,000 fans called the "Timbers Army" who are planted behind the North goal. They are lead by 2 different conductors. They are dressed to the 9's in Timbers garb. And they. Don't. Stop. Chanting. And. Singing. All. GAME. LONG! It is really impressive! They are jumping, dancing, banging drums, IN UNISON! It creates quite the environment.

- Because there is no announcer or lame electronic media going on. It is pure fan-dome. Pure energy. Pure Portland!

- Because there are actual fans who actually care about the game!

- And because those same fans show up rain, sleet, hail, or sun! We went and it was raining sideways for the first half of the game and guess what? It was just as fun!

- Because you should always try new things. This can apply to just about every area of your life...

- Because you should support the local economy! Not going to get all political on you, but I do believe in this...

- Because I said so!

In all honesty, I have never been a fan of soccer, let alone pay money to go to a game. But this was well worth it. We had so much fun and can't wait to go back! Until next time, gooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaalllllllllllllllllllll!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

God and Country

Woah! Struck a nerve, didn't I? Well so did the podcast that I have been listening to lately by Andy Stanley. He's the pastor of North Point Community Church in Georgia - the church Ashley and I attended when we lived in Alpharetta. And to say it is an amazing church is an understatement! Anyway, let me share with you what I've been learning and convicted of.

God and Country. God and Politics. God and schools? God and...God and...that is the essence of what Andy has been talking about. God is being left out of so many areas of our lives, but not just our own lives. You see, America has what he calls a "national conscience". Not only do we have a conscience, but our country does too. The question is: What informs our conscience? You and I (and the USA)- we know it's wrong for a man to marry a 14 year old girl. In other countries? Might not be wrong. THAT is a "national" conscience. Agree?

Ok, so what informs that? Where do we get that "ought to" and "ought not to" feeling in our gut? Andy's argument is that as a Christian it comes from the Holy Spirit. It's God nudging us in a certain direction. But what about the country? We might have to look a little further back to figure this out.

How about 1776 and the Declaration of Independence? Phrases like "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" and "And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence" support the fact that we founded this country reliance on God - as creator, protector and 'influencer'.

Do you know when the last printed prayer was by a sitting US President? 1944. "D-Day". Our President literally stopped the nation. Cars, businesses, everything paused for 5 minutes and was asked by the President to pray for our troops. And every newspaper printed the prayer from the President in the afternoon press. I thought that was interesting. So long ago!

How about a little more current? Do you know what our National Motto is? "In God We Trust". That is the USA's National Motto! Could you imagine if every school started the day by declaring their own country's national motto? Why is it that that makes people squirm? It shouldn't! The Congress is who came up with it! In 1956. Our elected officials were the ones who thought that we need to put our trust in God.

How about even a little more current? Like at the end of every State of the Union Address, when the sitting President asks that "God Bless America". And yet there are law suits and fusses about taking the phrase "One Nation, Under God" out of the Pledge of Allegiance.

It is interesting how far we have strayed, as a nation, from God. Our nation started with God, founded on principles laid out by Him. What if we were a nation that was dependent on God? What if we gave Him credit and were accountable to Him? I think we have gotten a little too reliant on "self" and that our country and ourselves are taking credit for all the blessings that we do have. In reality, lack of humility leads to less dependence on God.

I know I' rambling...and I'm really not trying to be political or anything! I just thought it was interesting what Andy was saying about the state of our country and how we have strayed from a basic foundation. I agree with him that we need leaders in this country that look to Jesus and who are influenced by Him. We need leaders in our own communities that do the same. After all, He created this place. We need to be accountable to Him and look to Him for guidance and leadership.

I don't often blog about Jesus or politics, or the two together. So forgive me if this strikes a nerve. I just felt the urge to write something! Until next time, look to God whenever you can. He's in control anyway!

Have a great weekend!