Pictures in my Pocket

So Sarah gave me these new pictures of the girls last week. She took them in Monroe on a cool day at a historic park by the River Raisin. Her gifts with a camera are profound; these photos evidence this artistic gift that God has given her.

Being away from home is hard, there is no doubt. Your heart is in two places. (The main upside that I’ve found though is that it has caused me to pray more.) My days away though are filled with little shots of love whenever I open my briefcase. I’m greeted by the most beautiful photos of my daughters that have been taken to date.

Emersyn is smiling so big I’d swear her cheeks could pop. This caused her perfect little dimple to be exaggerated in a way that melts me. She is wearing a multi-colored, zip up sweater that is dominated by blues that seem to really match the color of her eyes. Her face is perfectly round, (shows the Ansel in her) but her nose is soft and shaped like her mothers. The way her hair crosses her forehead is the perfect frame for her beautiful features. I just love it.

Ashtyn looks like something from heaven. The light from the sun is adding a glow to her wind blown hair. She has a peaceful, soft, and thoughtful look on her face. Her arms are crossed to let you know that she takes life seriously, but her eyes are sparkling so you know that she is full of joy. It’s actually like I’m looking at a young Sarah. She looks a lot like Sarah’s mom too. They all have the same sculpted chin. Beautiful!

Southern Sudan Health Care

I had an unexpected call tonight from my friend, Jacob Atem, while visiting with my friends in Cleveland. You have to follow this link and read Jacob's life story. It is truly amazing. He has started a not-for-profit organization with the goal of bringing health care, economic development, and stability to his childhood community in Southern Sudan.

On Jacob's character alone I am excited about his plans and vision and I know he is going to be instrumental in doing God's work in his home country. I'm getting together next week with him to see how I serve him and help him in this journey.

The wildest thing about this call from Jacob though is that we have not spoken in nearly six months, but just last week I had met a man from the Sudan while on business in Atlanta. I shared some of Jacob's story with him, and commented that is was about time that I give my friend a call. Cool timing!

Doughnut Dates with my ladies

Working hard lately. Lots of travel and late nights. Oh the power of e-mail access on your cell phone. I could probably work 24 hours a day if I charged my phone near my bed at night.
I'm heading to Cleveland Monday afternoon, then flying out to Phoenix from there on Wednesday. It is exciting to see this project progressing steadily.

I'm so excited to spend the day with my girls tomorrow. We're going on a Doughnut Date in the morning. Tim Horton's, and then Biggby for coffee and chocolate milk. Doughnut Dates are becoming a Saturday standard for us. The girls love it, and I just love being with them. It is amazing how strongly we parents feel about our kids.

Count The Black Dots

Found this on a blog and really thought it was cool. I've seen other stuff like this, but this one will give you a headache if you look at it too long.

I'm not sure if the dots are changing color or if it is all just caused by the movement of my own eyes.

Ramblings

How do you teach a two and four year old that everyday of life is an extraordinary gift? This is the most recent question that I'm trying to tackle. I think there is a huge problem with the youth of our culture today. They seem to always be bored. This leads them to constantly be looking for the next experience to fill their time. The problem is that few things in life really satisfy. I really want to protect my girls from this dangerous cycle. I have this deep desire to lead my kids to a real understanding of the joy of knowing that every day is a new opportunity to love God, enjoy your family and friends, and experience this amazing playground we call our world.

In talking to my girls about this stuff, I realize that along the way I've actually lost touch with the simple beauty of just existing in our world. Mostly have stopped acknowledging and enjoying the little things. Rolly Polly Bugs, wind, blue birds, snow...you get the picture. The youthful joy of my girls over these types of things is actually reminding me of how small I am in the created order of the universe. This helps reorient me towards a life more dependant on Jesus as my connection to the Creator of it all. And I guess that's what I really want my girls to see. They need to know that their daddy finds his joy and purpose in trusting Jesus to be everything we believe him to be...and that all the things I have to "do" (meetings, work, committees, community, etc.) are secondary to God and to them. I'm rambling and making no sense, I'll stop now.

Cleveland Basketball

There is something really special about seeing this guy doing what he does. He is an actual force of nature when he controls a basketball. It's a great experience watching him in real time controlling the emotional roller coaster of 20,000 fans.

The game started out slow. For the first half the Nets were dominating. The crowd was hardly watching. The second half though was like being at a totally different game. King James came alive, and so did the fans. He took complete control of the rhythm of the game and his team and the crowd started marching to his beat. They brought home a solid win. I don't think it will ever get boring watching this guy play basketball. Fans have got a lot of excitement ahead of them.

Visiting Family

I've got a whole bunch of Sarah's family in town this weekend from all over the country. Great times. We've got Duluth, Minnesota represented as well as Charlotte, NC.

We are having a great time catching up, Sarah was up until almost 4AM chatting last night. Ashtyn is having a great time too. Her cousin Lauren from Duluth is 7 years old and Ashy is just completely taken with her. They play so well together. Lauren is an amazing little kid. She is half parenting to Ashtyn, and half play mate extraordinaire. When I got home last night they were both sleeping under the same blanket upstairs in the girls over sized Barbie tent that they got from Great Grandpa and GrandMary last year. It was the sweetest thing that I've seen in a while. I should have snapped a picture.

Phoenix Debrief

Arizona was a great trip, but I am physically beat. Mentally I'm on fire though because we put together some great deals while we were there. I'm so fired up that I'm driving to Cleveland early tomorrow morning so I can start getting term sheet info to our lawyers.

Weather in AZ was perfect. 10 day local forecast for Phoenix: Sunny 80, Sunny 80, Sunny 80, etc.