I am a huge “Deadliest Catch” fan. Been watching it for 4 -5 years now. Something about those guys, the waves, the weather, and crab seem to almost be addicting. If you watch the show you know that Capt Phil of the Cornelia Marie, died back in January of a massive stroke. Last night on the show they said goodbye to Capt Phil Harris. It was a pretty emotional show, with some really great moments. As I watched I wondered why were so in love in Phil, why were we drawn into his life. Probably because he lived a good story. It was made for tv! As Donald Miller says, a good story has some elements. It has a character, Capt. Phil, that character is trying to get to a specific destination, catch as many crab as possible, and has to overcome insurmountable odds to get where they are going, survive the Bering Sea, the deadliest job on the face of the earth.
I will miss watching Phil, he always had a way with words. Not that he had the cleanest vocabulary, but hey, he was a fisherman. Below is a short video of Phil, Rest in Peace Phil. We will miss you.
In case you missed it, Team USA has advanced in the World Cup Soccer tournament by beating Algeria. If you aren’t a sports fan, or even a soccer fan like myself, you can’t help but get swept up in the emotion that has been created by the win. Sports are an amazing conduit to uniting people together. My daughter is swimming competitively this morning, and my son plays his next basketball game this afternoon. Parents, grandparents, and friends will be there cheering them on, win or lose.
Team USA has rallied a nation once again. And this video has been seen by millions, and actually brought tears to the players on the team.
I am a dad…I have been a dad for almost 15 years. I have made lots of mistakes, I have hurt my kids, I have neglected my kids. I have probably infected them with many of my more unfavorable habits. I am not a perfect dad, and I can only pray that my kids turn out okay. I try hard to be the best dad I can be, and hopefully that will see my kids through.
I love being a dad, I love my kids. They are my pride and joy. This Sunday is fathers day, and I will load my son and 6 of his friends in my truck and spend 5 days with them at summer camp being dad to all of them.
If you are a dad, don’t be a bad dad. Love your kids, spend time with them, have fun with them, parent them. If you have dad, tell him how much you love him.
May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half truths, and superficial relationships so that you may live deep within your heart.
May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression and exploitation of people so that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.
May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer pain, rejection, hunger and war so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and to turn their pain into joy.
And may God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in the world so that you can do what others claim cannot be done to bring justice and kindness to all our children and the poor.
Big day for us in the Akers household today. Its my son Grady’s 11th birthday, hard to believe that is was 11 years ago that I drove like a mad man to the hospital and found my wife Lisa already in full blown labor. Nurses screaming at her to not push until the doctor arrived. He is an awesome young man, not perfect, but he makes me very proud to be a dad. I love to watch him play basketball and football, and he is probably the best game player that I have ever known. The boy will not quit a game until he wins! He has a huge heart, loves people, and I know that we have a “that special bond” that only dad’s and son’s have. Happy birthday Grady, we love you.
Today I also attended my daughters 8the grade graduation. Yep, Lisa and I now have a high schooler, Yikes! I can remember it like yesterday when we dropped Sydnee off at her first day of pre-school. If I remember right I think I cried. Syndee was the president of the student council this year, played basketball, volleyball, and her favorite sport, softball. She was chosen to give one of two class speeches today at her graduation. She is an awesome young lady, and her speech was perfect. Not to polished, but full of heart tugging, funny stories that I am sure resonated with the rest of class. She obviously got her public speaking skills from her dad… I know she was a little nervous, but she did great. I am very proud of Sydnee, and I am very honored that she calls me dad.
I can’t wait to see what the next chapter of their story becomes. I realize that they are becoming less and less a part of my story, and are on their way to writing their own stories that I will be a part of. Its a bit melancholy to think about, but it also gives me great hope for the future. To know that there are lots of Grady and Sydnee’s out there writing a great story, and inviting others to be a part of it. They both will be great leaders.
Congratulations to my daughter, and Happy Birthday to my son. You guys are great kids, and your mother and I love you more than you will ever know.
btw- my wife Lisa has a birthday on Monday, the party will not stop for a few days….
Been thinking about what it means to live life to the fullest this week, and I believe that living a great story has allot to do with living life to the fullest.
I read Donald Millers new book “A million miles in a thousand years” this last fall. Its about finding and living a great story. If you haven’t read it, you should… Today in Don’s blog he talks about bad habits, or addiction, and how they mellow us out and keep us from the tension and desire that we need to pursue our story. When this happens we fail to live life to the fullest. When this happens we feel bad, and need a fix, so many return to the drug that brought them to this state in the first place. Its the addictive cycle, and its powerful, cunning, and baffling.
I have provided a short paragaph and a link to Dons Blog below.
I’ve a friend who helps people plan and organize their lives so they can get greater impact, and he said to me recently that he’s encountering more and more clients who smoke pot recreationally. My friend isn’t a judgmental guy, so he doesn’t brow beat them or anything, but he’s asking his clients to consider the consequences of the drug. Now when my friend said this, I thought he’d start talking about how it’s a gateway drug and so forth, but that isn’t the warning he’s giving his clients. The warning he’s giving is that their habit is stealing their dreams. When they smoke pot, they are satisfied for the rest of the day, they are calm and mellow, they don’t feel like pursuing anything. So if they’re smoking a few times a week, then they are basically not productive a few days each week. read more here
I believe that everyone was created to live their life to the fullest. I also believe that all of us desire to do just that.
Jesus tells us that is why he came. “I come to bring you life, the best life you could ever dream of” John 10:10. I guess our part in the story is to find out how we can live this life? He also gives us advice on how to find it. “If you cling to your life, you will lose it, and if you let your life go, you will save it.” Luke 17:33
The key to living life to the fullest? Live it like your dying…I can’t embed this video any longer, but you can watch it on youtube. Its great, check it out.
I’ve been doing allot of soul searching lately on what is church. As a pastor you would hope that I had that one all figured out, but the truth is I have been on a journey to refine my own paradigm of church for about 4 years. It continues to change and re-form in my head and my soul.
Just last week I picked up a book called AND – The gathered and scattered church. Its written by a couple of guys that lead a church [of sorts] in Colorado. I have to say that most of what I read resonates deeply with me. In fact most of what I have read, I could have written myself. It’s a new, well maybe really old, paradigm of what church should be. It comes down to two basic ideas. Church is a group of people that are called out to be gathered together, and scattered out. To be incarnate in the world. I hope to write a review when I finish it.
“Every 18 months for the last decade, the world has doubled the data it pushes to you.
Twice as much email, twice as many friend requests, twice as many sites to check, twice as many devices.
When does your mind lose the ability to keep up? Then what happens? Is it already happening?”
One of the biggest ideas that God wants us to understand is the need to rest. In fact its such a big idea that the story of creation itself involves a day of rest. God commands rest in the giving of the first law. On the sabbath you, and your animals, and your workers, will do nothing. The consequence for breaking sabbath, was death. I think God is serious about rest. Without rest, we overload. And if we overload enough we begin to die!
Hope you got some rest this long weekend. I know I did….
May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half truths, and superficial relationships so that you may live deep within your heart.