Blog

Last year, my wife was nominated on her campus for teacher of the year on her campus. Long story short, for several reasons, she withdrew her name from eligibility.

This year, she moved up to 6th grade, thus keeping the same kids. She was nominated by a parent whose child previously hated math. However, my wife (who is responsible for teaching math to the entire grade level) worked with her and was able to help this student achieve the “commended” level on last year’s TAKS test!

So today she is told there will be a student observer in her classroom. However, instead of a student, the Superintendent showed up with an entourage, a video camera, a bouquet of flowers, and two tickets the education foundation gala…all for being TEACHER OF THE YEAR! Congratulations to my amazing wife! Apparently, she is as great of a teacher as she is a wife.

Now she waits to see if she will be selected as teacher of the year for the district.

Last Sunday at Highland Oaks Larry James, President and CEO of Central Dallas Ministries, was our guest Speaker. During his sermon he mentioned the work that his organization does. While they have numerous programs, one stood out to me, a support group of 22 men who have been wrongly convicted of crimes and spent time in prison only later to be exonerated. I can’t imagine having to spend a week in jail for something I didn’t do, much less 27 years!

I first became aware of the Innocence Project a few years ago because of the work of Dallas District Attorney, Craig Watkins. You can
Google him to see all the work he’s done getting wrongly convicted people released.

I’ve heard it is difficult for someone that has been in prison for a length of time to adjust to being back in the “real world”. I can’t pretend to imagine how difficult or frightening this would be. Imagine how much has changed in the last twenty years. And what do you do after 10, 15, or 20 years without any job history? How hard must it make it to get a job?

One reason this is an issue for me is because I have had the chance to meet and speak with a handful of these men. My heart goes out to them. I cannot fathom the trials they have been through. Yet, what amazes me the most, is that not a one of them I have met seemed angry or bitter. In fact, they have been wonderful to talk to, once they get going. There is often a shyness that seems strange to me. I met a man the other day who must be 6′ 5″ tall and looked like a former NFL defensive lineman, but he was so quiet, soft spoken, and reserved that it took him awhile to begin to talk with me.

In a way, it saddened me because these gentlemen can seem as if they have a broken spirit. Perhaps some of them do. I am sure there is fear of how they will be perceived, or what someone may want from them. At the same time, many have wonderful spirits and the desire to take action and prevent this same injustice from happening again. The gentleman I met this week will be in Austin on Monday and Tuesday to testify before our state representatives about a witness identification bill to standardize witness identification procedures. Many others are public speakers and authors.

I have had the opportunity to meet these gentlemen through my work. The optometrist I work for is providing free comprehensive eye exams and diagnostic testing to these exonerees. We were put in contact with Dr. Page at UTA by one of our patients. This same patient has agreed to pay for the cost of materials for these exonerees to get new glasses. I can tell you that the people receiving these services have been VERY appreciative, and I am blessed to be a part of the process.

One thing this also reminds me of is the importance of not judging others. Often, this type of behavior is a central reason why so many people have been wrongly sent to prison. The person you see may not be the person you are looking at. It’s easy to make judgments about someone because of the color of their skin, the place they live, who their friends are, how many tattoos they have, or where they go to church. I have met great people in the worst parts of town, just as I have met dishonest, angry people that are respected members of their community. When you look at each person as a child of God, no better or worse than yourself, you can see amazing people and opportunity. Don’t close doors on people based upon what you don’t know about them.

Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Mt 7:1-2

If you don’t think God has a sense of humor, I invite you to watch this video. Two tiger cubs invade a monkey’s territory while playing together. The monkey decides to have his own fun in an attempt to chase off the intruders.

There is a new sight that launched very recently called I Am Second. It is an intriguing new approach to ministry that reaches out by showing how others have overcome their struggles. Some of the content is raw when people describe low points in their life. But the videos are honest.

You will recognize many of the faces, other you will not. From living the good life, to rock bottom, we have all been there. Many of us are at the bottom now and don’t see any way out. Each of these people were there, but found a faith that has helped change their lives. Josh Hamilton details his drug and alcohol abuse. How it got him banned from baseball, and how Christ helped him get back, better than ever. Brian Welch, formely of Korn tells of his drug addiction, the death of his daughter’s mother, and how he couldn’t function without drugs. He describes the night he (oddly) snorted meth and then asked God to help him find a way to overcome his addictions. He gave up drugs and quit heavy metal to be with his daughter and live the life he knew he should be living.

We have all had those points when we wanted to give up. I Am Second aims to show us that we are not alone in that and that there is one way out. Some of the videos are also great examples of how we might be the catalyst to help someone else find their way to Christ, even those we think would be the last people on Earth to do so. Take a few minutes and watch a couple of the videos. Read the questions. Pray for those that may be seeking meaning, forgiveness, or deliverance. And send this site to a friend.

I would also love to hear what you think of the site, so leave a comment below.

Well, I did it. I had a moustache for an entire month. It was really annoying and often embarrassing. I felt compelled to apologize to patients at work for looking so ridiculous (even more than normal). And it itched more often than not. But it was worth it because Tyler and I raised $255 for prostate cancer research.

This is a fairly new project in the United States, yet we raised over $800,000 in one month! Worldwide, 172,837 participants collected $13,576,730.92! We still have a long way to go, but this is exciting considering it started only a few years ago with a handful of friends in Australia.

Thank you to each one of you who donated money through me. It is greatly appreciated. And thank you to my wife for her minimal complaints about the ‘stache. I’m getting rid of it tonight!

A couple of weeks ago, Trey posted an article called “11 Signs You Might be a Blog Addict”. This morning I sent him a DM (direct message) asking if everything was okay because he hadn’t updated by 7:45am. I found out he has been sick.

I thought about his earlier post and I decided to come up with a list of a dozen ways to know if you are addicted to social networking sites such as Facebook (Rhesa), Twitter (Tucker), MySpace (Anyone anymore???), Orkut, or any of the other numerous sites out there.



1. Your friends know something is wrong because you haven’t updated your status in the last few hours.

This may be the first Thanksgiving Day post I’ve ever done. So why this year? Simple. I am in a much better place this year than I have ever been in the past. I have NEVER been a holiday person. I’m not sure why, but it’s been that way for awhile. I don’t think I have looked forward to a Christmas since I was 12 and Thanksgiving has never held any importance. Most of my working life has included weekend work, which meant I usually had Thursdays off. Thanksgiving was the week where my day off was overtaken.

But this year is different. In some ways it has been a tough year, but in other ways it’s been great. I’ve always had plenty to be thankful for, but for some reason I have always found much more to complain and be unhappy about. I’ve made a lot of changes this year. They certainly aren’t all complete, but I am looking ahead instead of behind. I’ll give you the top three things that have helped me this year.

The first is our new church home. Simply put, the people of Highland Oaks are amazing. I have had (and taken) many opportunities to be involved. This has allowed me to meet and get to know so many wonderful people. For too many years church was something I did because I was supposed too. But I was angry and upset and certainly lost sight of my relationship with God. It’s amazing how bleak things can get when you let that happen.

The people at Highland Oaks have gone out of their way to include me and my wife. They have wrapped their arms around us and reminded us of what it means to be a part of the larger Christian family. It is easy to see the love they have for each other and their commitment to being the best servants they can be. Through their love, support, involvement, leadership, and friendship, I have again found that relationship with God, though not perfect, that I missed for too long. I am certainly thankful for this.

Second would be friends. I have made some great friends through church and the Internet. Some are closer than other others, some can’t be far enough away (kidding). Some I am just getting to know and some I am getting to know better. Some are friends only by way of blogging, email, and online acquaintances. Nonetheless, their friendship and interaction are valued. To each of you, I say thank you for being the friend you have been this year.

I have saved the best for last, my beautiful wife. I love her more each day. I am amazed at the comfort and joy I feel simply being around her. The few days she went out of town were lonely. Knowing how completely she loves me, and how little I deserve that love, is humbling. She makes me want to be a better husband. Without her I would be a shell. This post earlier in the year demonstrates exactly what I mean.

I hope you have plenty to be thankful for this year. I am thankful that I am looking forward to the holidays. It is my wife’s favorite time of the year and I look forward to sharing her excitement this year.