The Top 5: Things That Are As Long As How Many Years My Grandparents Have Been Married

May 19, 2011 in Entertainment, Faith/Hope/Love, Personal, Top 5 with 4 Comments

My grandparents rock. They lit-rally put the “grand” in grandparents. They raised seven children, twenty-some-odd grandchildren, and now have I-don’t-know-how-many great-grandchildren. Grandpa was a WWII pilot. Grandma loved reading Winnie-the-Pooh to us. Grandpa was an avid curling player and would school us on his snooker table in the basement. Grandma could whistle like those birds in Mary Poppins. It was creepy, but cool. They used to have a decorative well in their front yard.*

Now they live in an assisted living home. In separate rooms. You see, Grandpa has Alzheimer’s, and his condition has deteriorated to the point where Grandma can no longer take care of him. So she visits him every day. They go on walks, they eat together, and sometimes they just sit. It’s very sad and beautiful and The Notebook-esque.

Tomorrow, May 20th, my grandparents, Bert and Joyce Attwell, will celebrate their 70th wedding anniversary. 70th.

That is almost unfathomable to me. 70 years of marriage to the same person. It’s flat out awesome, if you ask me. So, in honor of this beautiful, committed relationship, this week’s Top 5 will focus on things that are also 70 years long, just to put it in perspective. And because this is such a momentous occasion, and to help emphasize the significance of this accomplishment,** I will double the Top 5 to make it a Top 10. Here we go: Continue Reading…

Be My Plankton

May 16, 2011 in Faith/Hope/Love, Personal with 0 Comments


 Last week I took a quick trip up Michigan for the first time since I moved to Kentucky five months ago. I had to close on my house and move the rest of my furniture out, but I had enough time to catch up with a few friends, neighbors, coworkers, and former students. Friday was a whirlwind of a day: I saw many familiar faces, and didn’t have time to talk to any of them as much as I wanted.* As luck would have it, the Yale track team, whom I helped coach last year, had an invitational meet right around the corner from the house that I was moving out of, so I was able to stop by to catch a few races, and to chat it up with a few more old friends.

 As that evening drew to close – as I stood in the stands under the evening chill of springtime in Michigan – I just felt…perfect. The relief of selling my house in a time and place where the real estate market has absolutely tanked; the nostalgia of cheering on a bunch of athletes that I really connected with a year ago; the smile and warmth of familiar faces; and the underlying knowledge and confirmation that moving away was absolutely the right decision at the right time: it was all just a little overwhelming. So standing there, somewhere between the girls 4×800 relay and the guys 4×400 relay, somewhere between conversations with some fantastic former co-workers and having my face run through Fat Booth on a random iPhone; somewhere in the midst of all that, I had the sudden urge to yell out, “Soylent Green is people! It’s peeeeooooopllllle!!!!!!”**

  See, In 1973, Soylent Green, in a movie of the same name, was portrayed as a futuristic wafer made of high-energy plankton. Compared to other limited sources of food and energy, Soylent Green was the best thing available. It was in such high demand, in fact, that many a food riot broke out over the life-sustaining substance. The clincher came, however, when the main character found out that any such plankton had long since been eradicated from the waters of the earth, and that the wafers were actually made from the bodies of deceased humans.

  I know. Gross, right?

  And yet, in that moment on the bleachers where I nearly shouted my insanity to 16 area high school track teams, it all made perfect sense. Soylent Green is people. In my Holden Caulfield-esqe epiphany, I was reminded that people matter most. Life is about people: investing in them, knowing them, loving them, serving them, receiving from them. If Soylent Green, the very sustenance that was fueling life in a dark and morbid futuristic world, was made from people, then people are indeed my Soylent Green.

  Through relationships with other people I am able to find grace, give of myself, know and experience God, and fully become everything that I was created to be. Apart from other people, my life and my purpose would be fragmented and incomplete. We were never meant to exist in a vacuum, serving only our own purposes. And while God may be the creator and sustainer of all life, it is only through other people that we are able to experience that life to the fullest. Knowing, loving, and glorifying God is inextricably linked with knowing, loving, and serving other people. Jesus had it right:

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

  So I was happy. Because I remembered how much I love people. And how much it means to me when they love me right back.

  You are my high-energy plankton. You are my Soylent Green.

 _____________________________
  * That’s a bold-faced lie. There were plenty of catch-up conversations that were the perfect length, and others, still, that I wished were shorter. (Too many people to see, too little time.) But you get the sentiment, right?
  ** Fortunately for all those around me, I was able to suppress this urge enough so that it only came out sounding like a odd little hiccup accompanied by  a smirk. Strange bodily functions are much easier for people to cope with than flat-out craziness.

Win of the Week: Episode 9

May 11, 2011 in Entertainment, Win with 0 Comments

Every week, I try to share something on my blog that is inspiring, creative, motivating, or just plain cool. While this week’s “win” probably won’t bring tears to anyone’s eyes, it should bring a smile to the face to anyone like me who grew up in the Nintendo generation. Here is your Win of the Week: a short film by Patrick Jean.

Jolt: A Review

May 9, 2011 in Action, Book Reviews with 0 Comments

Phil Cooke’s new book Jolt!: Get the Jump on a World That’s Constantly Changing is based off the premise that the twenty-first century world is one best described by the word “disruption.”

Globalization has changed business, the media have changed our perceptions, culture has changed our values, and technology has changed everything. We live in the instant world of mobile phones, text messaging, and social networking. In the digital universe, word travels fast and change is overwhelming, often happening without warning…America is experiencing one of the most serious recessions in its history, changes in technology are disrupting our lives, and cultural norms that have held true for millennia are eroding before our eyes. We’re losing family, cultural, and religious frameworks that have stabilized and supported earlier generations.

The question of success – the question of survival - is whether or not we have changed along with the world. Cooke warns us that without active attempts and changing the way we think and operate in our everyday lives, we become lost, frustrated, and, perhaps, hopeless. In Jolt! Cooke presents twenty areas of life, thought, and business that we can actively jumpstart and begin the process of positive change. By “jolting” our priorities, choices, focus, habit, generosity, etc., Cooke offers a practical plan for finding success and fulfillment in a world that constantly seems two steps ahead of us.

Any book that falls into the “motivational” or “self-help” genres runs the risk of being trite and/or over-simplified; Jolt!, pleasantly, is neither. Cooke’s writing is clear, easy to read, and, in keeping with the twenty-first century phenomenon of streaming media feeds, is broken up effectively with inspirational and meaningful quotations. Cooke advocates personal action and change awareness, while also clearly acknowledging the role of faith, hope, love, and generosity in defining and achieving fulfillment. For anyone looking to make some positive changes or to understand how to keep up with our rapidly changing world, Jolt! is a worthwhile read.

Secular ideals inspire many people to do great good, but faith in eternal principles is what drives real sacrifice. – Cooke, Jolt!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

The Top 5: Things I Learned From The Kentucky Derby

May 7, 2011 in Entertainment, Top 5 with 7 Comments

I have watched the Kentucky Derby before – maybe half-a-dozen times. Now that I live in Kentucky, just an hour or so away from Churchill Downs, it feels almost like a requirement to check out the action. So I did. And here are my thoughts:

1) Don’t report from atop a horse.

Donna Somethingorother was one of the track-side and locker room correspondents at this year’s Derby. One of her ridiculous tasks was to talk about the condition of the track…while riding a horse on said track. Rarely, if ever, have I ever seen reporting more awkward than that bumpy, voice-rattling, nauseating camera-mounted-on-helmet mess. Think “reporter coming to you direct from a hurricane” but far more distracting and meaningless. The whole setup kind of made sense and was a little less awkward when she interviewed the winning jockey on his horse, but can’t that wait one hot minute until the guy dismounts?

2) Jordan Sparks should sing the Star Spangled Banner at everything. Ever.

Without a doubt, the most high-profile event to sing the National Anthem at is the Superbowl. Sparks sang it at Superbowl XLII and absolutely nailed it.* She sang it again here at the 2011 Kentucky Derby and was just as perfect. Sparks is tasteful, powerful, and she doesn’t miss a note…or a lyric. Continue Reading…

Unplanned: Review and DVD Giveaway

May 6, 2011 in Action, Book Reviews, Contests, Entertainment, Faith/Hope/Love with 1 Comment

Do you want to win a free copy of the Unplanned  DVD? Thought so. Stay tuned at the bottom of the post for details on how you enter the giveaway.

Abby Johnson made a courageous decision when she walked away from her job as the director of a key Planned Parenthood clinic in Texas and walked into the office of the Coalition for Life down the street. Yet that turning point was preceded by years of searching – and a moment of pure awakening.

In Unplanned, Abby takes you back to the Planned Parenthood clinic where she worked as a pro-choice advocate. You’ll hear directly from Abby how a few moments in a room of that same clinic changed her perspective, and her life, forever.

In this intriguing and inspirational story, you’ll follow Abby on a journey into her past – through her wrestling with an incredible personal dilemma and making a difficult choice – and ultimately to her current mission to fight for life and help women in crisis.

At first glance, Unplanned sounds like another agenda-driven story, wrapped in the all the rhetoric of the pro-life/pro-choice debate, designed to tear down whatever credibility it can from the machine known as Planned Parenthood. That, however, couldn’t be farther from the truth.

Instead, Unplanned is a story of a young woman’s honest journey to find meaning in serving others. Abby’s story is one wrapped in grace, not hate; it is a story that tears down walls that our political/moral/religious agendas so often erect, and instead focuses on the people caught within those debates. Abby’s journey is one of searching for meaning and significance; of breaking free from bondage of sin and shame to fully become who she was created to be; and of finding hope and forgiveness in the most unlikely places.

Make no mistake, Abby’s experience exposes the lies, selfishness, and tragedies that hide within the pro-choice agenda, specifically at Planned Parenthood. Her awakening to these truths will make you cringe, weep, and cringe some more. At it’s heart, however, this documentary does not point fingers and it does not sling mud. The overarching message here is one of grace, love, and understanding.

In the wake of the death of Osama Bin Laden, where professing Christians – people who claim to live and exemplify the love of Jesus Christ – continue to spew hate and judgement all over the social media networks, I cannot think of a message that is more apropos. You will be inspired by the peaceful, loving, prayerful responses from a handful of people who recognized that neither Abby, nor any of the other women entering and exiting the Planned Parenthood clinic, are the enemy; they are, rather, the victims caught in a war and a lie that goes far beyond any single issue or agenda.

“We can’t change our past, but if we dwell in it, it won’t allow our hearts and our minds to glorify God the way we should.” – Abby Johnson

 

On May 17 at 8:00 p.m., Abby Johnson will be featured in the Unite for LIFE webcast, where she will share her heart-felt desire to help women in crisis, and the moment of awakening that brought her to where she is today. This is a FREE webcast that will also provide the Unplanned book and DVD as a package deal, and 33% of each purchase will go to crisis pregnancy centers. Details and the free signup are available here.

WIN a FREE copy of the Unplanned DVD:

Tyndale Publishers was kind enough to give me one free copy of Abby’s documentary to give away to you. Entering the contest is simple: just leave a comment on this post. You can use either the Facebook or WordPress comments, but just drop a little note commenting on this post, perhaps telling me why you’d like a copy of the DVD. Or what you had for breakfast. (I had quiche and some strangely awesome fruity pastry pizza thingy).

Additional entries will be given if you take any of the following actions:

  • Connect with me on Facebook or Twitter. (+1 each)
  • Tweet a link to this post. Make sure to include @action_djackson (+1)
  • Subscribe to my blog via email using the form at the top of this page. (+2)
  • Join my Facebook Network using the link at the top of this page. (+2)
  • Follow Abby Johnson: pro-life advocate on Facebook. (+1)
  • Like Unplanned on Facebook. (+1)

One winner will be selected from all available entries using Random.org on Sunday, May 8.

Congratulations to Carrie Young Curell, winner of the free Unplanned DVD!

Come Awake

May 5, 2011 in Entertainment, Faith/Hope/Love, Personal with 0 Comments

I feel like Robert DeNiro.

Not “Raging Bull” DeNiro. More like “Leonard Lowe” DeNiro. Remember Leonard? The mental patient from the movie Awakenings who spent his entire adult life in a catatonic state until a persistent Robin Williams* used an experimental drug to bring his whole being back to life? While Leonard’s awakening was short-lived, he challenged and inspired others to make the most of those moments of clarity. You never know when the joy and fullness you feel in one moment might fade into a tragic lifelessness.

I’m not suggesting that my life is tragic or lifeless. Far from it, actually.** But sometimes we have moments of awakening. Tiny little glimpses of clarity or fullness where joy, love, peace, and goodness just seem to overflow in very a very tangible way. It’s those little moments where everything comes together; where the spiritual/eternal meets the physical/here-and-now; where God seems to smile and let you know that you are right in His will.

And His will is good.

Easter was an awakening for me. For whatever reason, I was totally amped up for Easter this year in a way that was unlike any other time of my life. I’m not sure why, exactly, but I imagine it has something to do with the fact that I went through a radical transition in my life over the past 6 months. Perhaps it’s because the resurrection means more to me every year as I learn more and more about what it means to know God and to be known by Him.

Maybe it was hearing the worship team rehearse early in the morning, singing and playing their hearts out to a risen Savior. Maybe it was the theological depth and lyrical beauty of Matt Maher’s song Christ Is Risen that had been saturating my soul in the days leading up to Easter Sunday. Maybe it was the inspirational interpretation from the biggest and cutest family I have ever seen. Maybe it was the fact that this place felt like home long before I ever moved here.

Maybe it was because God was there. Moving.

Whatever the reason, Easter Sunday awakened my soul. And like Leonard Lowe, I know that the awakening won’t last. In fact, it has already started to fade away, slowly. Just as Leonard realized that his awakening served a greater purpose (medical research), spiritual awakenings don’t occur just for themselves. They are not the end. The Christian life does not revolve around, seek, or exalt any kind of emotionalism. But those moments do serve a greater purpose: we fall more in love with God. When that happens, we give ourselves more to Him, and seek to love him more by serving others.

“Christian love is not just an emotional thing; it involves the giving of the whole person to Christ and to others.” – Wiersbe, 10 Power Principles For Christian Service

I am thankful that Christ went from death to life, and that He invites us to do the same. I am grateful for those tangible moments where my soul is awakened. And I am determined to make sure that I did not come awake only to fall back asleep again.

I was hesitant to include this video with the blog for a number of reasons, mainly because a static video shot cannot capture, nor can it recreate, the emotion and intimacy that was present on Easter Sunday. It’s just not the same. I don’t even want to try. However, I have heard from so many people who were present on Sunday that this particular song will not let them go. There are also many others who will read this post, without any clue of what I am talking about if I don’t provide some context. So, once again, here is an invitation to come awake. For Him, not for you.

_________
* Not “Patch Adams” Robin Williams. More like “John Keating” Robin Williams with a few scoops of House mixed in.

** With the exception, perhaps, of my cooking skills: straight-up tragic and lifeless. I ruined pancakes a couple weeks ago. I even managed to spoil a peanut butter and jelly sandwich the other day after peanut-buttering one piece of bread and the realizing I was out of jelly. I tried to get my Betty Crocker on by substituting the jelly with some orange marmalade that I found in the fridge, but that failed miserably because what is marmalade, anyway?

Dead Terrorists and Ruby Slippers

May 2, 2011 in Entertainment, Faith/Hope/Love, Personal with 2 Comments

Yesterday was a historic day. My kids watched The Wizard of Oz for the first time.

And President Obama announced that Osama Bin Laden was confirmed dead at the hands of American military personnel.

I will never forget the gleam in my daughter’s eye as Judy Garland sang “Somewhere Over The Rainbow,” nor will I forget those first moments later that night as America received and reacted to the news that the man responsible for the September 11th attacks was shot in the head by a specialized American military unit.

The whole thing screams of juxtaposition.*

Watching the instant reaction to yesterday’s events** was powerful, yet difficult. I honestly had many conflicting emotions. Care to process with me? Super duper.

  • I am glad for closure. I am especially glad for those who suffered very real loss on 9/11. There have been some very emotional moments in the last 12 hours from those who were so close to the destruction of those attacks, perhaps none as poignant as this one:

  • I rejoice in justice. Bin Laden was an evil, evil man. His hatred and violence shattered lives, bred fear, and changed the world. The Bible is pretty clear the wicked will be brought down by their own wickedness (i.e. Proverbs 11). Bin Laden reaped what he planted, and now he faces a judgment and fate much worse than a bullet to the head.
  • I simply cannot think of judgement and death without thinking of my own wickedness. It’s easy to say that a guy like Bin Laden deserves to burn in Hell.*** What isn’t so easy is to grasp is that I am in the same helpless estate as him. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). All. That means Osama, Al Queda, Obama, Oprah, and me. News flash: I am a sinful, prideful, lustful, selfish man.  It is only by the grace of God that I am free from that. I deserve the same fate as Bin Laden. Perhaps not a bullet to the face, but certainly judgment. Thank you, Jesus, for the grace I did not deserve.

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)

  • The end of the world will take place on May 1, 2611.****
  • There was something eerie about watching Americans dance and celebrate in the streets last night. All I could think about were the images of other nations dancing in the streets when the Twin Towers fell. I know, it’s totally different, right? Because we are right, right? Eerie, still.
  • My hope is not in America. I love our country, and am thankful for it, but America is not the hope of the world. We may be used from time to time as instruments of justice, but democracy and the Star Spangled Banner do not a savior make. “Salvation is found in no one [but Jesus], for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we may be saved” (Acts 4:12)
  • My gut reaction to the death of the most wanted terrorist in the world is surprisingly similar to the reaction I had watching the royal wedding on Friday. (I know! Should I use the word “juxtaposition” again?) I can live in the hope of heaven today, praying that God’s will be done “on earth as it is in heaven,” but I long for the day where “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Revelation 21:4). Or, to put in terms my daughter would now understand:

Somewhere over the rainbow way up high, there’s a land that I heard of once in a lullaby. Somewhere over the rainbow skies are blue, and the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true.

Someday I’ll wish upon a star and wake up where the clouds are far behind me. where troubles melt like lemon drops away above the chimney tops, that’s where you’ll find me.

There’s no place like home. Come, Lord Jesus.


__________________

* Bonus points to any of my former English students who remember what this means.

** The dead terrorist thing, not the classic whimsical film thing.

*** Even easier than saying it is typing it. Just look at the Facebook and Twitter feeds from the last 12 hours.

**** Maybe not, but let’s get our Nostradamus on: May 1, 1945 – Hitler confirmed dead; May 1, 2011 – Osama Bin Laden confirmed dead. (That’s exactly 66 years, for those not doing the math). Another 600 years will make a span of 666 years. Something superbly and significantly evilish has to take place then, right?

 

A Wedding To Remember*

April 29, 2011 in Entertainment, Faith/Hope/Love, Personal with 3 Comments

Earlier today, Prince William wed Catherine Middleton in what was undoubtedly the most watched wedding in history, with some estimates suggesting that 1/3 of the world – roughly 2 billion people – tuned in. Media coverage, obviously, has been ubiquitous, hyperbolic, and, more often than not, trivial in the weeks and months leading up to today.** But that’s what the media does: they create hype, regardless of the significance of the event. And the buildup for the royal wedding was perhaps unlike anything we have ever seen. In pop culture mathematics, it would be expressed as:

Severe Weather Tracker 3 + (Academy Awards Fashion Wrap-up x Charlie Sheen Interview) + Twilight “Breaking Dawn” Movie Release (Part 1 + Part 2) – Anything Snookie = Royal Wedding

The excitement in England goes without saying, but the reaction across the pond here in America has been mixed. There are those who stayed up all night attending fancy “royal wedding” soirees. Others just want it all to be over so they can go back to watching their regular high-quality TV programming without being constantly reminded that England still has a monarchy. Others still are remarkably indifferent. I fall somewhere on the spectrum of recognizing some historical significance, but not enough to get me up out of bed before my normal waking time.***

Regardless of where you stand on all of that, there are a few realities that we can see in light of all the wedding hubbub. For one, the royal wedding is symbolic of tradition of the past and of hope for the future. Amidst all the pomp and circumstance that represents the grand history of an entire country, there is an overwhelming feeling of hope for a bright future; that somehow the optimism shared by a young couple standing at the altar will carry over into the lives of the rest of the nation, and even the world; that somehow we get the feeling that everything will be ok.

But this vicarious optimism also points to a more stark reality. A reality that, while a princess takes a carriage ride to Buckingham Palace for the first kiss with her new husband, a violent string of severe storms in the Southern states killed over 300 people this week. A reality that the entire nation of Japan is still reeling over the devastation of a huge earthquake and subsequent tsunami. A reality where the lavish expense of a royal wedding stands in stark contrast to the fact that 1.2 billion people in the world live off of less than $1 a day.

What hope can a wedding bring to the harsh, painful reality of the here-and-now?

Very real, transformational, life-giving hope. That’s what.

Hope is all about the future. A wedding hopes for a future where two are joined together in intimate relationship, completely committed to and satisfied in one another. It’s the kind of relationship that we all long for because it promises that we will be loved and cared for. Always.

And here is the real hope I am reminded of today: the hope that one day there is going to be a Royal Wedding that will blow all our pop culture media equations and human expectations out of the water. A wedding where the King of Kings comes to claim His bride and to establish His eternal kingdom with her.

I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” – Revelation 21:2-4

Read that again. Slowly.

There is the hope. No more crying. No more pain. A new order where we will dwell with God intimately, and He with us.

The major TV networks may not be hyping this Wedding at all. You won’t find Oprah or Barbara Walters or Katie Couric or Oprah hosting prime-time shows with people who have been invited to that Wedding. But, oh, there will be a celebration! The Bridegroom himself, Jesus Christ, has already paid the dowry with his own blood, and He has gone to prepare a place for His bride, the Church.

There is the hope in the midst of this here-and-now: to those who have said “yes” to Christ, we wait for his return, amidst the pain, sorrow, agony, of this world. The vow has been made: we are His. And on that Day, the things of this world will fade away and what we once hope for will become reality.

So, yeah. I guess I like weddings.

____________

* Yes, I am blogging about the Royal Wedding. But before you judge me, let it be known that I also watched the first round of the NFL draft last night in its entirety – all four hours.

** A few days ago, one media segment focused on the kind of dress that Kate might wear for her wedding. How is that news!?

*** More than anything, the royal wedding served as a motivational tool to get my 5-year-old daughter out of bed to get ready for school. “Sweetie, it’s time to get up. If you hurry, you can watch a real princess get married on TV while you eat your breakfast!” Worked like a charm.


Win of the Week: Episode 8

April 28, 2011 in Entertainment, Win with 1 Comment

Meet Kevin Olusola. A Kentucky boy with a gift.

Talent. Creativity. Inspiration. Win.

Page 12 of 18« First...«1011121314»...Last »