Facebook

I abso-feakin-lutely love the connectivity that has come through facebook.  It has been so cool to reconnect with friends from years and years ago.  Its cool to see photos of friends, their kids, some of the cool places they’ve been and some of the cool things they’ve done.  Facebook is really a pretty cool social networking tool.  But I gotta tell you that there are just some things that drive me crazy about Facebook.   This guy has done an excellent job highlighting some of my more favorite reasoons why “I hate facebook.”  Can you identify with him on any of these?

In a Pit group

We’re just finished up our fourth week of a small group study of Mark Batterson’s, In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day, and I gotta tell you that this group has become something that I truly look forward to every week.  This is actually the third small group we’ve hosted and/or led at our house over the last 12 months.

When we first started leading a small group, we wanted to target a young single adult crowd.  But instead we’ve brought together, a group of young singles and married couples as well.  I absolutely cannot wait for Thursday nights to roll around each week.  We started out with about 22 people, but on any given week we miss about 3 or 4, still leaving us with a good sized group.  We intended to offer light refreshments, but the ladies of the group decided to share food responsibilities each week, and most weeks we’ve had full on meals.  One other major plus this go around is that I’m not leading this one by myself.  My buddy Chad, is co-leading the group as well, and although he thought he was getting into a young adult group, he even said that he really likes our group.

As the group left this week, I saw first hand how cool it is to be part of a group like this.  There’s a bond growing here between all of us that just feels so comfortable, so godly.  Part of my responsibilities at our church is to encourage people to be in a small group.  And at first it was so people would participate in a group.  But after the last few times of being part of a small group I’ve found myself feeling sorry for people who don’t have a place like our group, a place to connect with other people, a safe place, a group of people who care for you.

Do you have that small group environment where you can connect with other people on a more intimate level?

just for fun.

Look. . . .I’m not the first guy to discover a lot of cool stuff on my own.  So I certainly can’t take credit for stuff like this video.  In fact I came across it earlier today as I was reading some stuff on this guys blog.  But I find no shame in passing along to you what someone else has discovered, to simply say, “hey check out what someone else is telling other people about.” 

There’s no real spiritual significance to this clip.  Its just for fun.  So enjoy

family photos.

The Greer Family hasn’t had family photos in a loooooong time.  So, we went yesterday as part of Mady’s 4th birthday celebration and had tons of fun taking pictures.  To see more you can click on the Flickr box over there –>

I’m one happy guy!!! Look at all those beautiful ladies

That dripping sound in the background is my heart melting right now.

My Funky Girl.

The Birthday Girl

What do you want?  Tell me and its yours!

My shirt & Cinderella

For the last four years I’ve worn the exact same shirt, on this exact same day.  Its become a tradition I suppose, and if this shirt will hold up and I can fit in it, I’ll probably wear this same shirt on this same day for the rest of my life.  I wore it for the first time, the day my second daughter was born. When I put it on this morning it was like I stepped back in time, and could remember every detail about that day.  Going in early that morning for Kristia to be prepped for her C-section.  Pacing anxiously, waiting for them to take her back.  Then standing with Kristia as the doctor delivered that beautiful baby girl.  I remember walking her out and showing her to her big sister and her grandparents all standing around with wide eyed wonder.  What an exciting day that was.

Now here I am, four years later, celebrating Madilynn Eden Greer’s fourth birthday.  I’m still wearing my shirt, but man has she changed from that first day.  Mady is four going on forty.  She’s so animated, so engaging.  She loves to laugh and loves to make other people laugh.  She loves to sing to the top of her lungs even if she doesn’t have a clue what the lyrics are, she’s not afraid to make them up.  She knows what she likes, and knows what she doesn’t.  Even as a baby, she didn’t like my singing, and she would cry every time I would sing to her.  She’s learn to adapt to my singing, but has her songs she likes and those she doesn’t.  She loves to dance, twirl, jump, and flip, and the older she gets the more she does those things all over my heart.

So today, I’m wearing my shirt, to celebrate, but more so to remember how much brighter my life became when this little ballerina danced right into my world.

Happy Birthday Mady-mae!!

Warning: Sappy Video Posted below, for the Grandparents

“transcendant”

tran⋅scend⋅ent – /trænˈsɛndənt/ [tran-sen-duhnt] –adjective 1. going beyond ordinary limits; surpassing; exceeding.

Have you ever met a transcendent person?  Someone who rolls with the punches of life, doesn’t seem to be negatively affected by much.  They just seem to know how to live.  They’re the person who seems to rise above all odds and obstacles.  They’re not conceited, arrogant, or boastful, but more resolute, more confident, more at peace.  I think the epidomy of a transcedent person is Jesus.  His life, His ministry, His death, all transcendant.

As I’ve thought about this word today, and I’ve thought about the transcendancy of Jesus. I’ve been challenged by the thought that this is how I’m to live my life.  If I’m to be like him and embody all of his character, then among all of the other good characterstics about Him, I should also strive to be transcendant.

I don’t do well at that.  I’m easily frustrated by obstacles.  I’m easily thrown off balance by the un-expected, the un-explained.  I let so much affect me that can completely alter how I function.  And you know what I find, that being overcome by my circumstances only makes life less enjoyable.  I miss out of the view of the ride.  I miss the good things in life.  I lose focus, lose sight of greater purpose, destiny, even eternity.

I’ve privately been overwhelmed lately by stresses of life, worries & uncertainties that I simply do not know how to change or effect.  I’ve made human attempts to deal with many of the circumstances, and really to no avail.  But, I think God is showing me that I simply have to put my eyes on Him, focus on Him and His centrality to my life.  He’s not central to my life then He needs to be and He needs to be the magnetic force that draws me toward Him, moving my beyond ordinary limits, surpassing and exceeding the cares of this life that I simply cannot change.

So tonight, my prayer is that God would be more central in my life, that my eyes would be more focused on him, and that my life may truly be a transcendant life.

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Hebrews 12:2

I’m singing.

My blogging buddy Brewster let me have a sneak peak/listen to one of my favorite worship artists a couple of weeks ago.  Kari Jobe is an artist with Integrity Music. This lady has one of the purest voices I’ve ever heard.  If you’ve heard any music from Gateway Worship, then you’ll recognize her voice.  Here’s a video Kari put together of people giving their testimonies of how they are singing in spite of their circumstances.  Its a great reminder that no matter what life is throwing at you right now, you can still sing through the storm.  Hope you enjoy the video, but I hope even more you’ll get her new project that goes on sale next Tuesday, February 10.  Enjoy!

Einstein (the bird).

For the last two years, we’ve had a friend that comes to visit us around this time of year.  His name is Einstein.  We know Einstein has arrived when we start hearing a a non-rhythmic tapping on our garage window.  It actually sounds like he’s throwing rocks at our window, but actually he’s throwing his entire body against the window.

He starts up in the tree or sitting on the fence beside our garage and then appears to fly full force into the window.  He then lands on the electrical box beside the window and looks a

little bewildered, uncertain as to why he can’t make it through the window.

Then he flies back over to the fence as if he’s reconsidering his options, his approach, his speed or something, and in a minute or two, wham he tries it again.

Another Einstein once said, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

I cannot tell you HOW MANY WAYS this little guy’s reminds me of myself my own life, and my feeble attempts to get things right.  I know this much, my head hurts from crashing into the window.

So . . . . can you relate to Einstein?

i can’t.

Have you ever looked at your life in its current state and compared it to what it “should be” and realized that the difference was so overwhelming that it made you feel absolutely hopeless?

I had a moment like that last night, actually a few moments.  I was thinking about the kind of leader, husband, father, friend, pastor, son, brother, neighbor, etc that I’m “supposed” to be and I felt like what I was supposed to be and what I really have been or am now just don’t seem to match up.  Honestly it was a pretty hopeless feeling.

I actually found myself crying, and saying out loud “God I can’t.”  Not an “I can’t” as in “I don’t want to” but an “I can’t” because “I just don’t seem to know how to get it right.”  (Man, even as I sit here and remember the desperation I felt last night my palms begin to sweat, tears well up in my eyes, and hopelessness seems to be staring back at me through the monitor screen.)

But here’s what happened next. . .

It wasn’t audible.  There was no thunder, lightning or earthquakes.  But God spoke something into my heart, and I literally felt it rise up to my brain, like a well spring of hope, “I know you can’t, but I CAN.”

God absolutely knows all of my weaknesses, my failures, my incapabilities.  He knows how I’ve blown it with my wife, my girls, my best friend.  He knows the stupid mistakes I’ve made and the wrong choices I’ve chosen.  He knows all of that, and He loves me in spite of all of that.

Here’s the thing, when I become fully aware of the “I can’t(s)” in my life, I clearly see how desperate I am to have Him at work in my life.  If He doesn’t help me be a good leader, a good husband, a good father, and a good friend, then I’m up the proverbial creek without a paddle.    If I got it right all of the time, any of the time, I would tend to start thinking better of myself than I really am.  That would lead to me being less dependent upon Him, and creating a false self reliance that would only lead to failure once again.

I guess that’s why Paul said he boasted in his weaknesses, in his “I can’t(s)” because they simply point to God’s “I can’s.”

I don’t know if this makes sense to you, but I just had to journal this today if for no other reason but for myself.  I want to circle this day,  as a red letter day.  A day in which I begin living every other day reminded that in spite of all of my “I can’t(s)”  He Can.

May you be reminded of the same.

Peanut Butter Crackers.

I keep a stash of Peanut Butter Crackers in my filing cabinet drawer for  when I get hungry, and don’t really have the opportunity to get a “real meal.”  I started to open a pack this morning when I was reminded of this video that I saw this weekend, and I honestly decided not to eat them.

I was reminded of how I so easily take for granted things that to me may seem insignificant, but to someone else may mean the difference between life and death.   This video caused me to face the brutal reality of just how blessed I am, and how desperately hopeless other people in this world are.  This video has haunted me.  Its tough to watch, but I would challenge you to carve out 9+ minutes to watch it.  Please don’t turn your head, so you don’t have to be confronted with the misery of others.  Allow God to touch your heart with compassion, and ask Him to show you what you can do to make a difference in the life of someone else.  I know I am.

Oh yeah, and don’t forget to be thankful for the little things, like peanut butter crackers.

Thanks Anne, for the reality check.