Fundraiser Recap

Howdy.  I'm sitting here at lunch and I seriously am about a full week behind on this blog post.  But be that as it may--(I've always wanted to say that in a blog post)--I wanted to share a little bit of my experience of my fundraiser that happened on Sunday, August 10th.

First, a quick recap.  I wanted to sell 35 boxes of coffee in 35 minutes; of which would be spent running the Rose Rudman Trail in Tyler, TX, with all profits going to the launch of LeadChurch in Pflugerville, TX.

Now, some stats.  I sold a total of 18 boxes, none of which were during my run.  They were all in the boxes pre-sold and pledges obtained the week and hours leading up to my run.

Finally, thoughts.  These are things I realized on the trail...

"I'm scared."

It occurred to me that I had no idea what to expect; and that fact really scared me.  It could've ended up wildly successful or a total flop.  And no amount of planning would give me the actual end result ahead of time.

"I'm not ready."

I did not invest nearly enough time preparing for the physical demand that the run would have on my body. I guess because I thought I'd only be running for 35 minutes! Haha?

"My goal was too low."

I remember hearing the advice before: Never make your minimums your maximums.  I realized that my goal was 35.  My result was about half.  Had I set a goal of 100, selling 35 would have been a coffeecake walk.

"Friends are better than strangers."

This one was pretty tough on my ego.  I had made the mistake of thinking that the hearts of strangers that I saw on the trail would save me.  The glorious truth is that an ounce of friendship outweighs a pound of the other stuff every day of the week and twice on Sunday. (Kinda stole that from Matt McConaughey in Ghosts of Girlfriends Past).

But, srsly tho.  People that I had cultivated friendships with the past few years came through in ways that absolutely floored me and opened my eyes to the very simple thought stated above.

"I must be burning like 8 million calories. Which is like, crazy awesome."

Hey.  Pretty cool, huh?

That's pretty much the long and the short of it.  Oh, and I started this post a couple days ago during my lunch break.  In case you were wondering about my intro.  Catch ya'll on the flip.

A Penny

Just waiting outside of Panera Bread for it to open and I felt like blogging a bit. 

Jeff Olson's The Slight Edge is what I've had playing in my car for the past couple days. It talks about starting with a penny as it relates to the compound effect. Really encouraging in that sometimes I wake up and feel like all I'm good to contribute in life is a "penny." But it's encouraging to help me remember that it's better than not contributing anything. And that by contributing something--anything--consistently, I'm getting way more back than just the expected return from investing the "penny." But so many intangibles. So many of the character-building things that go mostly unnoticed and yet are what I'm really craving. 

Anyway. Panera Bread is opening now. 

He's got rhythm

This morning I had Noah laying on his back for a couple minutes right in front of me as I sat cross legged. I started drifting off about something and unconsciously tapping a beat on my legs that was very syncopated. Very syncopated. And it took me awhile to notice: Noah had been kicking my knee in perfect timing to the down beat with his right foot while staring at my hands.

Curb check!

I guess things occur to me most while I'm driving because my mind races along with the tires of my car. This morning on the way to my regular spot I remembered when I took my first ever qualifying driver's road test. My very first turn out of the DMV--yes, the beginning of my test--I cut the right too sharp and went right over the curb. I want you to picture the tester in the passenger seat springing a couple inches off the chair as if I had installed hydraulics on my little '84 Camry (I still love ya, girl); and turned them on without warning him...just for kicks.

In that moment I was so tempted to turn right back into the parking lot, stop in front of the DMV and go ahead and let him out, only to be a walker/bike rider for the rest of my life.

Fast forward, as you can tell--or assume, even, if you don't live near me--I didn't let that one curb check mess up my vision of being a driver. I still passed my test. I'm still a driver.

Yesterday I had a BUNCH of curb checks in life. And I just want to encourage you that your curb checks might hurt. It might be you saying the wrong thing. It might be you not saying the right thing. It's okay. Keep driving.

I'm hungry

On Sunday after church I was driving home with a pretty empty stomach.  I hadn't had time to eat breakfast before leaving the house (although I did get some coffee while there, booyah).  So I was pretty hungry while driving home.  And boy if every single restaurant I passed by didn't have a sweet sweet aroma drifting to my delicate nasal passages, I tell you what...

However, I was surprised at how unaffected I was at continuing on my beeline to my refrigerator.  And the parallel to life in general just struck me about halfway there.  Just the thought of my travels to where the real good stuff was; where the price had already been paid for it; and whereby my hunger had become my ally in my efforts to keep my eyes forward and stay focused till I got home.

Don't be afraid to have that hunger.

Me right now

This week was pretty good. I learned a lot. I discovered new strengths. I uncovered new opportunities for growth. I learned from my kids. I walked through open doors. Didn't fight with locked ones. Started work on some foundations. Continued work on some bridges. Didn't burn any behind me. Didn't take as much for granted as before. So incredibly content where I am. So ready to get one step closer to where I want to be. A little less fearful of the unknown. A little more solidified on how I want to be remembered. 

Fencing

I really haven't felt like blogging very much lately. But today I shall blog. I shall blog, today. Yes, today. 

I am incredibly excited about the work that we did on Saturday on our property. It was a great day to get outside and dig some holes in the earth. This week Beth and I are focusing on packing in the posts with concrete and dirt. Im thinking that it won't take all week but we'll see. 

This is a project that we've wanted to do since moving in in 2007. We started planning a year ago and are only now really putting some effort into it.

Sometimes it takes some time to get started on something. And when you do, it is almost always different from the way you planned it. 

Scary feet!

Please forgive me. I had a cinnamon crunch bagel and now I'm feeling a bit inspired. 

The problem is that inspiration doesn't automatically produce or provide direction for wisdom. And I shouldn't write anything that hasn't been thought out. 

One thought that I have been carrying around recently is "How much are you walking by faith, Jason." And the honest answer is "Well. Not a whole lot."

I've been walking by sight so much that I can do it in my sleep. With my eyes closed!

I don't think I can imagine a better measuring stick for this issue than to take a look at my day and examine: How much of it did I do that scared me. 

Hacker

Today a friend and coworker shared a video via LinkedIn. After seeing the title I wanted to share it with Bethany. After the the first couple minutes I wanted to share it with Jon Acuff. By the time it was over I wanted to post it on my blogosphere. 

This young man has the right idea. 

http://youtu.be/h11u3vtcpaY