I am a huge fan of setting personal goals. They will change your life!

I'm not talking about thinking to yourself,"Boy I would like to ___." I mean the full fledged and committed kind of goals that you can't turn back from. Take sky diving for example- you might say “Boy I would like to skydive”, and write that down on your list as a goal for someday, or you can go ahead and jump out of the plane and  then set a goal of walking back to your car in half an hour.

When push comes to shove, the second option is the one you can't turn back on, because there is commitment. Now it doesn't always take the most extreme type of "can't turn back" commitment, but in your mind you need to build a key concept. I guarantee that if you develop this concept you will be amazed at what you are doing every day.

You ready for it? Okay here goes. The key concept is this, "If I think it I must do it." this isn't to say that every little thing you think of you must do but  more that you should replace the "Boy I would like to." with "I must do it." A year ago I would have said, "Someday I would like to work in an environment that would challenge me more and stress me out less. I’d like to participate in stuff like a 15k race. And what I’d really love to do someday is to go sailing on a weekend rather than trying to catch up with life after a week that was way too busy." Then I found the key- “I must do it”. I would tell myself this time and time again, beginning with the little things. When I was driving down the road and thought about how much I wanted to pass the guy going 35 mph in front of me I would find an opportunity to do it.

Today I am in a place in life's journey where I have used this key to unlock the opportunities to change my work environment. I’m training to run a 15k race this summer (currently running 12k three times a week ), and I’ve bought a sailboat so that I can spend Sunday afternoons on the lake with my beautiful wife. 

Lots of thoughts here I know, but I think its important to keep challenging yourself. I encourage you to put your full trust in God, surround yourself with encouraging people and keep the key in your mind with all decisions “If I think it I must do it.”

Can’t wait to hear the places you end up going as a result! Leave me some comments with your thoughts and your goals you are going to accomplish!

I  love how I can use work and the jobs that I do to illustrate my views on life topics such as building relationships. For instance, I install paver blocks (Cambrige is my brand of choice) and in the whole process of the installation, there are specific steps that should be followed. If you don’t follow these steps the paver blocks will be weaker and able to work their way apart. 

The first step of a proper paver block job is the excavation to move away some dirt. Often times people don’t realize just how much dirt needs to be moved and are unaware that this is a crucial step in the process! For a 25 foot sidewalk you would need to dig out 3 cubic yards of soil (that is a dump-truck load of dirt.) In most healthy relationships, it seems a dump-truck load of dirt and past needs to be removed in order to create a good base for a lasting relationship and start on a fresh foundation.  
 
The second step in the process is to fill in the area you just un-earthed with 5 inches of compact-able stone to create a hard base to build on. Many relationships, whether work or personal, require some hard material to work off of such as a common hobby, a common work environment, a common belief system, or a common relative. Some of these common things aren’t strong enough though - it is like what I would compare to someone trying to install pavers by doing little to no dirt removal and just throwing some stone on the ground to work with thinking that it is sufficiently hard. Tcommonality needs to be something solid and grounded. 

After that, an edge restraint is needed for the pavers. This can either be wood or PVC that will outline the scope of the job. Just like with pavers you need to create boundaries with people in your life that outline where you are with the person. Boundaries are necessary in any and every healthy relationship- my job requires job estimates so people know what to expect and where we stand with things,family needs to know where you stand in your convictions, and people need to know whether they can count on you or not. 

After you set up the edge restraint, three quarters of an inch of clean sand is needed on the inside of the outline.This allows a surface that can move and fit in all the uneven spots and cracks. Its like forgiveness sand-we need to have a buffer of forgiveness in all good relationships. If I don’t have this forgiveness on reserve, then no matter how good it looks the relationship is on a rough surface and the next thing that pushes you will show through. 

The final step in your paver project is to set the stones and then tamp them to compact them and lock them together. This is equivalent to doing projects together -the more pieces you put in the relationship the more magnificent the whole thing looks, and as the stress and impacts of time push on the relationship you form  a tighter and tighter bond that locks you together in a
spectacular and unique way. 

Each relationship has its own patterns and colors so whether is co-workers, friends,  family or even a spouse you need to build these relationships well. The way you build them will be vital to their health and quality, just like pavers!                

I finished the bathroom tile over the weekend and it looks great. Check out the picture of the final product. Its so nice to have it done!

 I find it continually amazing to be able to bear witness to God's work in peoples
lives, and on occasion be a privileged helper to His people. 

God has given us all great gifts and talents in life- gifts of friends, family,  housing, and jobs. I think we often take these gifts for granted, or hold on to  them selfishly. What I mean to say is that if God has blessed me with the
ability to walk and move freely with no pain, why do I “pay a cable bill” or any
other entertainment bill that encourages me to just sit around? I think the problem comes down to a matter of selfishness. 


Nobody likes to be called lazy or selfish. I know it churns a fighting anger in me when I think of myself as either of them. This is the point at which a man of God must curl his upper lip at the mirror and and sit like an Atlas statue for a moment thinking to himself of all the people God has placed around him.As I thought for a moment I began to think of my elderly neighbor who could use to have her porch painted. She has even mentioned it a while back, but I have been too busy to think about that one for over a year. And then I though about my church family and wondered if I even knew how I could help them? 
 
We all have a choice to make. We can choose to get up and do something, give someone something, meet a need of someone you know. Don’t wait for someone else to do it.

How will I work  through this test of character in myself? I will work, I will give, I will care for those God puts on my heart. I will get up and see if my neighbor still needs her porch painted. I’ll help my family to finish some of their house projects so that they can show God’s grace and mercy to a young girl who has had nothing until now. And mostly I’ll just continue to consciously look for, and take advantage of, each opportunity God gives me to serve those around me. 
 
I’m so thankful God has given me the ability to do these things becuase I know He has a specific purpose for us all, and I’m thankful for my wife, who helps and encourages me on this journey.   

I encourage you to stand with me in this journey in creating a deeper fuller you. My challenge to you is to find a way to give something away, whether it be your time, your money, your love. Resolve in yourself to do this and I guarantee that you will have the blessing of seeing God at work all around you.        

I’m  very happy to share with you my first blog post!
In the coming weeks and months I’ll be writing about the adventures of life as I see it in my life, my  family, my work, and my house. 

I did something this week that I'm really looking forward to! I signed up for the “BoilerMaker" Race which is July. Its a 9 mile race and I'm trying to get my time down as much as possible these next few months. As a Christian, I am moved to believe that a mans character must be undergoing  a constant refining process that would allow others to see glimpses of God and His ultimate plan in life. I think this is accomplished through building things like focus, perseverance and honor in life. I have seen how training for this race has affected not only my character, but also that of my wife. It is such a blessing to me to see how going to the gym and training together has turned into a shared hobby/sport. We are building an encourager and support coach in each other, and sharing a form of intimacy not many couples get the joy of experiencing. (like nights I am icing my knee after a bad run.)

 Something I've reallybeen getting excited about lately is community involvement. I find it good to be able to rely on people- after all we need people in our lives to help cause us to become all that God intends us to be. The other day I stopped by the local town
building to pay my taxes and gave the clerk my business card along with a verbal open offer for my free labor to any Town masonry projects (ie. parks, sidewalks, memorials.) Its my way of trying to give back to people that I share this Town
with. (Acts 20:35) And hopefully through this I will be able to drive my abilities to work in a broader field. 

Thanks for stopping by! Come back next Wednesday for a post about my home bathtub tile job. Its going to be awesome!