The Pride of My Life...

One of the truths of my life is that I get a lot of attention. Certainly, some of that attention is negative and critical, but the lion's share is positive. I get to write some, travel and speak and have people gush about how I've blessed their lives. But today, I get to gush about someone who has blessed my life -- my wife, Rochelle.

This morning, Rochelle and I taught a session at the Pepperdine Bible Lectures. This was our first joint session. I honestly thought my stuff was the best part of our class. Well, that was before we actually presented the class. I was blown away. She outdid me. And trust me, that hardly ever happens!

Rochelle did a fabulous job today, and I am very proud! In the past 2 months, my wife has given birth to a baby, organized and ran a women's retreat, taught our church's women's Bible study and a Sunday School class, lived with a husband who has been out of town several weekends and somehow managed to put together the best class that I've heard all week (and that's not husband grandiosity and pride).

What a woman!!

Nearly ten years ago, as Rochelle and I were about to get married, my mom said to me, "I couldn't have picked a better wife."

My mom has never been more right.

Missional and other things...

I've been talking to a lot of people about Missional Church. The scope of the discussion is extremely broad, and the language itself gets used by so many people many so many different things that it's difficult to get your head around. Though I've been immersed in the literature for about 6 years now, I am always fascinated by the folks who are really put off by the concepts.

For those of you familiar with Missional Ecclesiology and Missional Renewal, please comment or e-mail me about what excites you about it, or what concerns / worries you about it the shift from churchianity to Christianity.

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Our family is off to Malibu this week. Rochelle and I will be teaching at the Pepperdine University Bible Lectures. I will also be doing a session for high school students called "The Pepperdine View." Our girls are going with us and my mom is flying from Georgia to join us on the journey.

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Our 3-year-old is struggling to potty train -- or rather her parents are struggling with training her. Any helpful ideas?

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Much love to you all!

Road Trip #3: Similarity

It's easy for me to think that over time I become less and less like my family of origin. I suppose that comes from growing up and moving far away from home and not being able to get back very often. Over time, home seems less like the place that birthed you and more like a place that only seems familiar in the sense of a dream or past life.

Returning home, however, quickly changes that sense of difference. If it's not your grandmother reminding you how much you look like your great-grandmother or the odd fact that you and that same grandmother order the same sandwich and chips at Subway, then it's the fact that your brother and you somehow have exactly the same computer bag and sit down behind said computers whenever their is a minute to spare to get some work done.

My family doesn't usually get together for large gatherings, so this weekend is quite unusual. Tomorrow we will celebrate Thanksgiving and, more importantly, football. Friday my brother and I will hit the sale at the local Apple store, and then my entire family will sit in club levels seats at the Atlanta Hawks vs. Toronto Raptors basketball game.

There's not telling what the week will bring. I'll keep you posted.

To be continued...

Road Trip #2: Surrender

We made it to the Atlanta. I spent the entire day wife my wife, daughter and grandmother adding my mom to the mix after we arrived tonight. The entire day I reminded myself, "Enjoy the view."

Hey, it isn't everybody that gets God commenting on his blog.

Anyway, I just finished watching one of my favorite TV Shows, "Scrubs." It was the one when all the doctors parents come to visit and they have to deal with being adults and being good children all at the same time. I bet a lot of people are feeling that tension this time of year.

The show ended with Cheap Trick's classic song, "Surrender".

Here's the chorus:

"Mommy's alright, daddy's alright
They just seem a little weird
Surrender, surrender
But don't give yourself away
Hey, hey!"

Good Advice, I think.

Road Trip

I'm not a fan of road trips.

Never have been.

The idea of sitting in a car going across the country is almost death to me. My brother, Richard, is the complete opposite. He loves being in the car and driving. A guy who cannot normally sit down for five minutes can drive for hours on end. I don't get that! He once thought about being a cross-country truck driver. That's how much he loves it. I can't think of anything I would dread more.

Anyway, tonight I find myself in the middle of a road trip. My family is off to see more family for Thanksgiving. In all honesty, I've been married to my wife for almost nine years, and today was the longest time we've ever spent in a car together (10 hours).

I hate road trips and I avoid them at nearly all cost.

But, alas, I broke down and now we're spending the night in a Marriott in Jackson, MS, the city in which I was born. And tomorrow promises only more driving.

They say that you can learn a lot about a person on a road trip. I think my wife and daughter have learned something about me: I hate road trips. But then again, I could have told them that beforehand.

I wish there was something profound or inspiring to say about this experience so far, but there isn't. I look forward to picking up my grandmother tomorrow. I look forward to seeing my mother, my brother, my best friend from high school who's wife just gave birth to their first child, and I look forward to eating my mother's cooking. I just don't look forward to the seven more hours of driving ahead of me tomorrow.

Pray for me, y'all!

So Proud

I'm incredibly excited about another "first" in my life. Though both my wife and I have made our livings using words--both written and spoken--there have been precious few times when we've been able to use words together. Even though when one of us speaks in public, the audience is probably hearing us both, we have never shared the same lectern, podium, or stage.

Well, all that's about to change.

This May, Rochelle and I will be speaking and teaching together at the Pepperdine University Bible Lectures. Though I've been blessed to teach at the lectures several times before, speaking alongside my beautiful wife will be something completely new. And yes, I have joked with Ro about riding on my coattails, but the truth is that she is and excellent presenter and an extraordinarily thoughtful person. In fact, if she had been raised in another faith tradition she likely would have been a preacher and a brilliant one too--just like her father.

At present, we're still kicking around topics for Pepperdine, but we will settle on something by Wednesday I'm sure. The reason I'm sure is because we have to. Dr. Jerry Rushford and his crew at Pepperdine need to print the program soon. So if you have any suggestions, we're more than welcome to hearing them. And if you think I should just sit quietly in the background and let Rochelle teach our classes, well, that's probably a good idea, too.