The first of many!

I've started this blog for one reason and one reason only. To put the big rocks first, as my friend Doug once astutely observed. This blog is going to be a more spiritual look at life, from things I hear where I work, from sermons I've heard, or anything I observe that helps me learn more about God. To start, here are a few little things.

I get a text message every day, a sports-related devotional from Sports Spectrum. They are very good, using sports references to challenging the reader about living the Christian life. Here are a few I've kept in my phone:

"Trophy idols? Has a sports trophy ever become an idol? Too important? Your source for bringing satisfaction or peace. Only God can bring true peace." Wow. This one hit me pretty good when I read it, because I'm known for loving my trophies. I have a replica of the Seattle Storm's 2004 championship trophy at work, and a picture of the Stanley Cup on my wall. Not to mention a picture of Appalachian State's two trophies. But especially speaking, I've gone crazy over the awarding of the Stanley Cup almost every year at the end of the Finals. When I read that text, the thought hit me..."Do you think about God the way you think about that big silver thing?" Gulp. A lot of times I don't, and that's gotta change. And hopefully starting this blog will help me out with things like that.

"Start a streak: New Hall of Famer Cal Ripken's streak was 2,632 straight games. Challenge: Start your own daily streak of praying or Bible reading." I started praying a lot after 9/11, for obvious reasons. I still do, and not just before meals, either. I enjoy talking to the Lord. Another reason for this blog is to maybe get myself more into the Scriptures, because that has gone lacking sometimes, as has my brushing of teeth. But we won't get into the latter here.

"Appearances. World Series. Something on Kenny Rogers' hand. Looked bad, but illegal? Avoid what looks bad to others. Be holy, free from accusation. (Colossians 1:22) "Abstain from all appearance of evil." I Thessalonians 5:22. That verse comes into my mind a lot when considering everything from vacation plans to where I go to eat. While nowadays it's hard to eat at a decent restaurant that doesn't serve alcohol, there are a lot of things I can do to not make it appear that what I'm doing is evil. As for what I'm eating, that's a different story entirely.

"Too tall? Katie Feenstra. Six foot eight. Learned to love how God made her. Enjoys a WNBA career. What do you not like about yourself? Give it to God for His Glory." First of all, you'll learn in this blog that I am a big fan of Katie Feenstra, especially because of her days at Liberty where she professed the Lord's work in her life right there in the NCAA Tournament a few years ago on national TV. This particular text, though, made me think about myself. I'm a pretty big guy, way overweight. I don't like that about myself, it's a sinful state to be in, and I'm working to drop a lot. But, if I was in high school and college with a trimmer physique, then because of my mindset on certain things in those days, there is no telling where I would be or what trouble I would be in right now. So I thank the Lord for my physical appearance from keeping me out of some relationships that could've caused me immense trouble.

So the Lord is blessing me with different things to open my mind to His ways and the appropriate way to live the Christian life. Focus is the key. Coming up, I'm going to comment on an Insight for Living series I've heard parts of, as well as the aforementioned "Big Rocks" sermon, and I'll delve into some athletes from time to time, and my first artist will be Corey Lynch, the man who blocked the field goal to beat Michigan and impressed me with his gratitude toward Jesus Christ for everything he does.