TIME TO CHEAT SOME MORE

Okay it has been a long time since a post… so here ‘tis, the long lost post you have all been waiting for.

The highlight of my day was swinging in the back yard with my two youngest daughters. There’s something about their smiles that get to me every time. I can still remember a message that I heard at a YS convention a few years ago from Andy Stanley about cheating. “If you are ever gonna cheat on someone,” he said, “cheat on your job (or ministry) and not on your family.”

I’ve always tried to make my family a priority in life. It isn’t a task; it’s what I want. The thing is that sometimes all of the demands of life try to command out everything else without me noticing. That’s what I hate. That’s what I don’t want to happen.

Here’s something funny. I got an e-mail from myself a few days ago. It is from this web site called “FutureMe.org”. I definitely suggest giving it a try. Anyhow, here’s what I wrote:

(this message was composed on Tue, Sep 7, 2004)

Dear Future Me,

I thought I'd try this cool web site out. We just got back from NOT-WINNING at the LifeLight Festival [Battle of the Bands competition] in Sioux Falls this past weekend.

I feel pretty bad. I'm hoping you finally wrote and recorded some new material by now. If you haven't, stop and schedule some time in your calendar now. Don't waste the gifts that God has given you.

God bless you richly (you're a pretty cool guy),
Shawn

I like how I tried to encourage myself at the end (. Anyhow, there’s another thing that I’ve maybe cheated myself on: playing and writing music. It’s something that I love to do but hardly seem to find time for anymore. I know that I need to listen to my own advice and actually “schedule” it in to my day. That sounds sad. I love what I do. I love youth ministry. I love my family and my wife. Why do I have to “schedule” in something that I love to do? How come it doesn’t come naturally?

I don’t know. Weird question? Maybe even a weird thought. Maybe I spend too much time reading e-mail or surfing the Web. It takes up a significant part of my mornings and evenings. Maybe that’s taken over my “first love” of music. Who knows? Time to ponder some more on this. Maybe even time to re-prioritize. Maybe blogging should be on the list, too, seeing that this is the first post in how many months now?