FROG

I have duplicated the name if this blog to illustrate a couple of points. In the last week God has been instrumental in my life in more ways than I can comprehend:

He has placed Himself right square in the middle of my marriage, since we haven't been doing very well on our own.

He has communicated in no uncertain terms what my role in my family is supposed to be and that He expects me to abide by it (thanks, Andy - another on the spot sermon)

He has led me through truly disconcerting circumstances then capped it with a pleasant Sunday surprise ( great to see Nate).

His still, small voice wasn't getting heard very well, so He turned up the volume. I have a goal now to follow up and be accountable to my God, family (immediate and church), myself and friends so that I may be a proper steward of what I have before I lose it all. There are habits to break, mentalities to change, issues to overcome, trusts to rebuild.

FROG - it's the only way it will work. Please pray for strength for us..

ESL? Not So Fast!

I usually take the news with a grain of salt but had to say something about the fact that the Dare County (where we live) Board of Commissioners recently passed a resolution declaring English as the "official language of the county". Oh boy, the irony is so thick on so many levels you could cut it with a knife. What would MLK say 40 years later?

Kerbey Lane Cafe

We lived outside of Austin for a while in Round Rock, which is profoundly named for...a round rock. More like a round boulder in the middle of a pond actually. Texans kept it simple back in the day! Anyway, Austin is a liberal oasis in the middle of Texas - a bohemian college town with a computer oriented, outdoors loving culture. Lots and lots of great places to eat too! Right next to Zilker Park are two great restaurants, Shady Grove, which is 90% huge patio under massive pecan trees, and Chuy's, which is a mexican place with hubcaps hanging from the ceiling and good tex-mex. Now for Kerbey Lane:

They have several locations around town serving 24 hour menus. It is a truly eclectic place with kids' drawings on the wall next to local artist's wares; a jar at the cashier stand collecting funds for the cook who has a sick family member; mismatched coffee cups; beat up booths; friendly servers and awesome food! Any place that puts avocado, cream cheese, green onion and pico de gallo in an omelette has gotta be good. We ate there many times with the kids when we lived there. We have a great friend who watched the kids from time to time who actually introduced us to it and we were hooked - love at first sight. Check 'em out! www.kerbeylanecafe.com. Just waxing nostalgic about great restaurants we have been to...more to come I'm sure.

Render Humble Service

I heard it so many time in my previous professional life. At that time it was relative to how we were expected to approach doing our job. We were charged with humbly serving our employees and customers from a servant perspective.

Now, thanks to all the repetition of that statement over the years, I am programmed to think it in professional situations. However it has been taking on a different tone in my life as things slowly cycle into a proper position. Here's how I envision rendering humble service now:

• To God through doing any little thing I can to help in our church family and living a life that reflects my growing faith for His glory.
• To my family by helping them grow strong in their beliefs and to help them to achieve their goals. By being a caring, giving, compassionate, loving, committed provider. By praying for them constantly. By role modeling good behaviors.
  
• To myself by engaging in positive, productive thoughts and disciplining myself to change poor habits into good habits and establishing achievable goals - starting small and growing them. By taking care of my health, mental and physical, and keeping the saw sharp.

This vision is not all-encompassing and will evolve as time goes on. I guess it reflects some of my value structure now that I look at it. Not a bad thing necessarily. Things continue to roll along!