My New Hobby

When I find a new hobby, I tend to latch on pretty hard. Last week I adopted a hobby that will probably benefit me and has proven to be extremely addicting: car maintenance and modification. I'm not talking about Fast and Furious stuff (those cars seem so tacky to me now). I've had the same 4Runner for over six years now and up until very recently I haven't taken care of it in any way, shape, or form. I never checked or changed my oil when it was needed, I didn't know where vital components were, and I let annoying problems persist until I literally couldn't stand it anymore. I even went from February '09 to March '10 without A/C or heat.

In mid April I made a promise to myself. Since my car is the most valuable possession I own I really needed to start taking better care of it. It has 183k miles and has had a good share of problems since I got it, no thanks to me. I started by purchasing a Haynes repair manual so I could learn where certain things are and how to perform simple maintenance tasks. I think in just a short time it has already paid for itself. Next, I joined a 4Runner forum and read about others who had already solved the same problems I was having. Also as a result of being a member of that site I've become addicted to modifying my car so that it's more unique. Right now as I type this I'm finishing the 3rd coat of black paint on all my plastic badges from the back of the car.

Working on my car has been so much more fun than I expected it to be. It makes me happy that I'm saving money, getting my hands dirty, and learning a craft that I'll be able to keep for all my life.

A Tribute to Mom

Today is Mother's Day and I am going to be totally unoriginal. I'm going to take a few minutes and talk about how awesome my mom is. First of all, not many people I know would have the fortitude to raise four boys. As far as kids go, we were all really well behaved but let's be honest- boys are difficult to raise, especially since there are four of us and we all egg each other on and cause all sorts of messes. Throughout all those years, however, she's always let us know how special we all are to her. Three years ago she and Dad moved over to Central Texas and she's been a trooper through it all. I can tell it has been hard on her being so far away from her two oldest boys (she at least gets to enjoy my two younger brothers' company) and she always sends her love in all the ways she knows how. My mom is awesome. That's all I have to say about that.

The one strike principle

This post is a sort of continuation of the post earlier this week, but some things I've thought about for a while now have recently come up in conversations and scenarios.

I have a saying that seems to prove itself all the time: you can work all your life to be a the best person you could possibly try to be, but all it takes for everything to come crashing down violently is one single mistake. The best examples seem to come from Hollywood and the sports world, but you can looks at countless families in your neighborhood and see this principle in action. A husband can be faithful for 25 years, but the second he makes a move towards that cute secretary he loses all credibility.

It does not just apply to home life. It applies to work as well. For example, a few days ago a stock broker for Proctor & Gamble pushed a single button that lost him his job. Granted, the mistake almost caused a record crash in the stock market, but still.

Now that you are aware of the "one strike principle," use it when considering everyday decisions. Remember that all it takes is one mistake, so make every choice count!

Same Story, Different Day

It really bums me out to see athletes in the state they're in these days. It seems like every time I turn on ESPN there's another athlete who has either raped a girl, done drugs, or possessed an illegal weapon. For a while, football and basketball players seemed to make up the majority of these stories, but the Tiger Woods scandal last Thanksgiving proved that anyone in the spotlight is vulnerable.

I definitely think that being a professional athlete skews one's sense of reality. I don't know many people who would argue with that. For example, most pro athletes were discovered at a young age and in order to cultivate that talent, most of them had to give up almost everything else and focus on their sport. That in itself can be a good thing, but it becomes a problem when others pamper the athlete beyond belief. I've spent a season working for a Division I college football team and I was shocked to find out how much work we had to do just so the players didn't have to do anything extra. Everyone needs to be accountable for themselves.

I hesitate to use the term "role model" when describing athletes and I think that excuse is way past cliche. The truth is athletes are public figures, not role models. Just because a person has a particular skill does not mean children should idolize them. Some pro athletes have made it a goal to take part in philanthropy and those are the ones that deserve extra attention, not just the ones that score the most touchdowns or home runs.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that it's frustrating, but given the ingredients that go into many pro athletes, I'm not surprised that they mess up. I just wish we could hear more headlines about the good things our favorites ball players do as well.

Update: Yesterday Lawrence Taylor was arrested for allegedly raping a 16 year old prostitute. I don't know all the facts, but there was obviously some peculiar activity going whenever these events occurred. I hope to God this story was fabricated. Only time will tell.

Bieber Fever

I first heard about Justin Bieber when iTunes offered his "One Time" video for free. I downloaded it and about ten seconds in I way saying to myself "this has got to be a joke, this kid is trying waaaay too hard." but as the weeks went on, I found out he was here to stay and I am still blown away at the level of fame he has achieved at such a young age. Being a 23 year old guy, I was a huge detractor and thought girls were crazy for liking him so much. There was a rumor circulating a little while ago that his mom was trampled by a hoarde of ravenous female fans. I think that's the point when things are just a little bit out of hand, but that's just my opinion.

My opinion about free music has always been very simple: if someone offers, I'll take it. At the very least I can rip it into iTunes, check it out, and either keep it or delete it depending on how it is. When a friend told me she had My World 2.0 I did just that. Upon first listen I immediate liked a handful of tracks and after a full run-through of the CD I realized how similar his story was to the story of one of pop music's biggest innovators: Michael Jackson.

MJ become the lead singer of The Jackson 5 when he was ten or eleven years old. He was a HUGE success, yet if you think about it it's kind of strange to hear an 11 year old sing about girls. Justin Bieber is doing the same thing, but I was judging him a lot for all the same reasons why I love early Michael Jackson stuff.

I won't say I'm Justin's biggest fan or anything, and you sure as heck won't catch me at a his concert, but the kid has some talent, and whoever is writing his music (I seriously doubt he writes his own) knows exactly what young Americans want to hear.

I heard Justin Timberlake tried hard to sign him to his own label and I would have really enjoyed hearing what kind of music JT would have produced for us to hear. Oh well.

Everyone has an Adventure

Earlier this afternoon I took an opportunity to listen to an amazing story. My friend was raised in India and has a traditional Hindu family. I wouldn't do his testimony any justice retelling it, so I'd just like to share the aspects that I think were the most applicable to my own life.

Having been raised in a Christian home all my life and being taught the basics of Christianity since I can remember, I often think of my own personal testimony as "boring" and somewhat run-of-the-mill. Although that's obviously far from the truth because as a youth minister once told me, "every testimony is an awesome story of how God saved a life." My friend has one of the most inspiring stories I've heard in a while.

His story starts with a small group of people who really went out of their way to show him God's love. This is often the part of evangelism that gets lost on a lot of Christians, especially street preachers. They forget that in order to effectively show the true gospel, you must first show Christ's love, especially when sharing with those who have come from other cultures. He put it this way, "The message of the gospel is so radical because when you tell a person who believes in anything else that 'no one comes to the Father except through me' you're pretty much telling them that everything they have believed all their life is wrong." That is a huge bomb to drop and should not be taken lightly. If you tell someone who is not quite ready to hear that, your opportunities to speak again might be harmed in the future.

The other compelling aspect of his story was how understanding and loving his parents have been through the whole process. As I said earlier, his parents are Hindu, but have not discouraged him from reading and learning about Christianity. They have, however, informed him that if he came home and told them he had become a Christian it would be a bad situation. Despite this, he knows his parents were fantastic models as a child. No matter what happens or what he decides he will always be welcome in his own home.

As I said earlier, I could never do justice to the great story he shared with me and a handful of others, but it inspired me to take pride in my own personal redemption story and to love others a lot more than I do.