Many of you know that one of my favorite things to do is take photos. So much so, that I have a side business in photography. This is what I have come to love about taking photos…I can control light. I control how much I let in. I control how much I allow to hit my subject. I control where the light goes. I control the intensity. I have the ability to control light. I love that I can make a seemingly dark area come to life with just a little bit of light. I love that there are different ways and different modifiers that help you produce different kinds of light for different settings.

I LOVE LIGHT!!!

As I began to think about this the other night I was reminded of John 12:46 where Jesus says, “I have come into the world as light, so that no one who believes in me should live in darkness.” The reality is, is that if we love THE light, then we get to control the light that is given to the world around us. We control how much light we let out. We control where light goes. We control the intensity of the light to the world we come in contact with. We can take seeming dark areas of the world and bring them to life with just a little bit of light. Just like photography, we have different ways and different modifiers that we can use to produce light to all kinds of people. Your modifier may be music, the arts, sports, conversation, or a myriad of other things but the reality is that all of these modifiers produce good light to a seemingly dark world. I LOVE LIGHT!!!

Where do you need to bring light to? Also, what is your unique modifier of light to the world and how can you use it?

I would like to call up my 16 year old self and have coffee in some vintage little nook that you can only find in one of those little eclectic towns. I would love to look myself in the eyes and just search my soul. I would love to guess what I am thinking. I imagine my younger self’s first thought would be, “Wow, that is me 15 years from now. When did I get so old?” Then I imagine I would be thinking what kind of things do I want to know from the older me?

I would like to join me for coffee.

I would love to see the anticipation in those eyes 15 years prior to today.  I would love to hear what he is so excited about. I would love to hear about the girl he is dating, the classes he is taking, the job he has, and the relationship with his family and friends. I would love to see what gets him stoked and amped up. I would love to ask my younger self why he wants to change the world. I imagine he would have a lot of wisdom to impart to me. However, I could not let him think that, because I am sure he is a pompous little know it all. I guess some things never change huh?

I would like to join me for coffee.

I would love to see how respectable he would be to himself. He was quite a schmoozer back in the day and my guess is that he would still be one, even with himself. I would love to ask him what he plans to do with all those crazy dreams he has swirling around inside of him. I would love to talk to him about his faith and when he is going to finally decide to grow up and live it out. My guess is that he may ask me the same thing. I would love to ask him why he thinks that the acceptance of others is more important than grades, God, and family.

I would like to join me for coffee.

I would love to tell him that he is going to grow up to be a preacher. I imagine that he would laugh at me when he heard me say it. He would spout something off to me about wanting to be a lawyer, but I would just smirk. He would know by that smirk that it was real. I would love to tell him that he would be moving to Illinois and then to Texas. Man I bet he would think that was the funniest thing he had ever heard. Illinois maybe, but he cannot seem to fathom Texas. He would look at me like I am an idiot for even saying Texas. I would love to tell him that when he gets to college he will be smitten with a girl that will change his life. He will laugh really hard at that, because 16 year old me has no desire to stay with one girlfriend yet alone one person. I would love to tell him that he will have two little girls that will rock his world. I notice when I say that, that his face gets a little more serious. He cannot seem to get his head around the fact that he would ever be a father and have the responsibility of someone else’s life. Finally I would love to tell him that he will have the opportunity to reach literally thousands through speaking the truth about Christ and his word, but some things I will simply let him figure out on his own.

I would like to join me for coffee.

But for now…I would just like to join you for coffee!!!

What would you say to your “15 years ago” self?

When I was a kid I believed that anything was possible. My guess is you did too!!! I don’t know what happens to us between being a kid and being an adult that makes us forget that we have endless possibilities. God designed us to live a life of the endless possibilities. As I look to living a better story and helping others do the same we have to get back to that childlike state of knowing we can do anything as a long as God has called us to it. So question of the day is this…

What Endless Possibility Have You Neglected That You Need To Begin Living Out?

My friend Pete Wilson and his whole family are in the new Taylor Swift music video. Pete and his wife are the couple fighting (haha) and his boys play Taylor’s kids. Pretty cool to see friends in a number #1 music video. Check it out:

A few months ago I read Donald Miller’s book “A Million Miles in a Thousand Years.” Very rarely do I read 200 hundred plus page books in one sitting, but this was one of those rare moments. Every page I turned was full of highlighting and underlining. I wrote things in the margins. I was transformed by the words and thoughts that Mr. Miller had brought to life for me. It provoked thought about my story. The entire book was about just that. It was continually asking,

“What kind of story are you living?”

I got to the end of the book and that question lingered in me for days, maybe even weeks. But I did what I normally do with a book that I am finished with. I closed it, glanced one last time at the cover and then put it on the shelf with the countless other books I have finished. This book that was so impacting on me was now just a distant memory. The thought of living a better story was just that…a thought. And now that very thought was fleeting. That was until a week ago. I had a friend sit down and share with me a vision that he had about bringing peoples true stories to the forefront within the church. Not the kind of stories that we try to fool people into believing that we are living, but the story that we are actually living. In essence he was saying that it is not until we get honest with the story we are actually living, that we can live out the story we were meant to be living. As I listened to him share this I was jarred back into the reality of that question that rocked me months ago.

What kind of story am I living right now?

I immediately directed him to Mr. Miller’s book. He admittedly told me that he was not a veracious reader by any stretch, and I told him he would not be able to put it down. I was right and three days later he was done reading it and had found the same challenge I had found. So with all that said, I picked it back up and am currently re-reading it. I am again confronted with the question mentioned above. The difference this time is that I am not satisfied to just ask and wrestle with the question. I am not content with letting the question linger on a shelf and no further. My desire is that I would actually live a better story. That the chapters and the content would have lasting meaning and impact on my wife, my kids, my ministry, and the Kingdom of God that I serve. Not only do I long for a better story, but God longs for us to have a better story. In fact he created us for a better story. So today as you read this and wrestle with your story ask yourself this…

WHAT KIND OF STORY AM I LIVING RIGHT NOW?

Now lets conversate…

“IF THE POINT OF LIFE IS THE SAME AS THE POINT OF A STORY, THE POINT OF LIFE IS CHARACTER TRANSFORMATION.”

-Donald Miller in A Million Miles in a Thousand Years-

Starting shooting some portraits with an Alien Bee 22″ Beauty Dish with an Alien Bee 1600w Strobe. This was one of the first shots I took of my partner in crime Mr. Cal Knapp. Love the light and the catch lights in his eyes. If ya want some shnazzy photos like this one, just hit me up!!!

This week I am at staff retreat with the greatest team ever assembled. Our lead pastor Drew Sherman shared what I would consider some of the greatest and most impactful leadership thoughts I have ever heard. Here are the notes that I took today and if you want more please contact me. I promise you will not be disappointed.

LEADERSHIPTHOUGHTS