Last week I went to lunch with a friend at Felipe’s Mexican Restaurant (great place, by the way!). I was there a little early, so got a table and waited. After spending a few minutes reading Making Ideas Happen, (always a good idea to take a book everywhere you go!) I decided to go wash my hands (gotta fight those germs!).

While I walked to the restroom, I thought about the concepts in the book. Just as I went to open the door to go in, a guy was opening the door to come out at exactly the same moment. It totally took me off guard. And besides that, the guy was HUGE. In that split second he seemed about 6′10 and about 400 pounds! It was crazy.

But what was even crazier than that, was my response to the whole thing.

Even though I was startled, surprised, and caught off guard I kept it cool.

When the door flew open and Goliath came stomping out I nodded my head and said, “What’s up dude?”

It was a super calm response. Completely laid back.

Mega chill.

After stepping to the sink and getting my heart out of my throat (and being perfectly happy and relieved that he didn’t ‘blow the bathroom up!’), I threw my head back and started to laugh.

And laugh.

And laugh.

And laugh.

It was so bizarre, unexpected, and weird that it was funny.

It makes me think of all the potentially funny, inspiring, and joyful things that happen throughout our day.

Most of the time they escape us.

We are so busy being serious, being responsible, and stressed out that we miss out on all the fun.

In the midst of all the serious stuff that will happen today, don’t forget to laugh at the funny little things along the way.

Even if they come in 6′10 400 pound packages!

Message/Talk from this Sunday from Grand Haven Res Life that asks 4 Questions:

1. Are you giving God your Best?
2. Where is your heart Located?
3. What are you Becoming?
4. Who do you Worship?

For video, click here.

Hope deferred makes the heart sick,
But when the desire comes, it is a tree of life.

-Prov. 13:12

What happens when your hopes and dreams are deferred? How do you respond when the failproof plan fails? When the path of promise becomes a dead-end road, what do you do?

How we respond to the crisis of disappointment reveals a great deal about where our trust lies.

Can we trust God when things don’t go our way?

Or can we only trust God when things happen like we expect?

Deferred dreams can become the seeds for its ultimate fulfillment.

I am typing this on our family PC. This is a very sad predicament because that can only mean that my 17 inch Mac Book Pro is having problems. I am going to do my best to keep my head up as I try with all my might to escape the PC universe.

It is a scary place.

Look at the 1st picture (below), and you can see where this driver, on U.S. Hwy 100 just outside Flagstaff,AZ broke through the guard-rail, on the right side of the culvert, where people are standing on the road, pointing.

The pick-up was traveling about 75 mph, from right to left, when it crashed through the guardrail.

It flipped end-over-end, bounced off and across the culvert outlet, and landed right-side-up on the left side of the culvert, facing the opposite direction from which the driver was traveling.

The 22-year-old driver and his 18-year-old passenger were unhurt, except for minor cuts and bruises.

This 2nd picture (left) shows just how fortunate and blessed they were to be alive.

When I saw this photo I thought: How many times has God rescued me from the Cliff of complete disaster and I didn’t even know it?

Interesting story in USA Today about the first images of a multiplanet solar system. The picture above is of a dust ring (in red) surrounding the star Fomalhaut which can’t be seen with the human eye.

It is a star that is 16 times hotter and brighter than the sun. This solar system has planets that are about 7 to 8 times more dense that Jupiter or Saturn and travel an orbit anywhere from 24 to 68 times longer than the 93 million miles in which the earth circles the sun.

The crazy thing is this:

God has known about this forever and we are just now seeing it.

God is always doing stuff, creating things, preparing us for things that we don’t know about.

We have to trust Him when our human eyes can’t see what He is doing.

The image may be dark, but God can always see.

Brad Sciullo a chef from Uniontown, Pennsylvania ate a 15 pound hamburger at Denny’s Beer Barrel Pub. He was the first to do it. It took him 4 hours and 39 minutes.

Sciullo ate the burger because, “I wanted to see if I could.”

For completing the challenge in the under-five-hour time limit, Sciullo won $400, three T-shirts, and a certificate.

Wow. I don’t know what to say.

I am sure there is meaning in here someplace, but I just can’t find it yet.

This is an Angler Fish. It lives in the deep sea and uses a ‘lure’ attached to its head designed to draw smaller fish close enough to be eaten. I was having a conversation a little while ago with my daughters about the way of the Angler Fish.

A fish is hungry.

Fish sees something that looks like lunch.

Fish becomes lunch.

Life and the enemy present similar opportunities.

We have a hunger in our soul.

God wants us to satisfy our hunger with us going to Him.

But we are then presented by our enemy with attractive, albeit destructive alternatives.

We take a look at the pretty thing, and take a small nibble.

Then…SNAP!

We are in the middle of something that we didn’t expect.

A something that is inconvienent, painful, and very costly.

What we planned to eat has eaten us.

A word of caution we all could use:

Don’t look.

And no nibbling.

It’s never worth it.

Can anyone tell me where computer spam comes from? I hate it. Man what a pain. The spam universe loves this blog. Yeesh.

Hey Dreamers. I turn 35 today (wow!). I wanted to let you know that, but also I am now eligible to become President of the United States. Because of my newfound eligibility, I have decided to run for President.

My Presidential campaign will begin this weekend. You can now vote for ‘The Man that Can, Julian Newman!’. I have chosen Tiffany Newman as my running mate. Watch out McCain. Watch out Obama.

Julian’s coming.

A quote that I happened across last night:

“Go the extra mile. There won’t be a crowd.”

-Written on the wall of the dance studio where my daughter dances

Look closely at the picture. It is a perfect example of NOT going the extra mile.

Lose the crowd.