Over the years I have written a handful of songs for Marixa. I wrote a song to sing to her when I proposed. I wrote the song for our wedding. I have written songs for her birthday and other occasions. There are a couple that she has really liked. One I wrote called By My Side is one of her favorites.

This was an attempt at writing a song that was about the one I love, without sounding like I was singing a love ballad. I love how spending time with her, regardless of what we are doing it makes me happy. There are days we could drive for hours and talk and it would be the best day. You know what I mean right? This is a fun up tempo number that I hope you will enjoy. I recorded this one myself, so it isn’t radio quality, but it was a good first take. Check it out and let me know what you think.

You. I pray that where ever you are and whatever you are going through now, that your thrive. You have a friend in Texas who is on your side. Praying for you friend.

I asked my bride to list ten thing that she felt women wanted from me. I share the following with you without commentary. This kid is from 2007. It is still true today.

1. We want your time.

2. We want you to be honest but not cruel.

3. Pay attention to what we say to you, your eyes and body language need to reflect this.

4. Do small things that show you still care about us.

5. Play, laugh, be silly, have fun with us, do stuff with us we consider fun.

6. Help out around the house, without complaining.

7. Don’t talk bad about us around other people.

8. Treat us with respect, don’t talk down to us, we are your partner.

9. Be our knight in shining armor, show that you will fight for us.

10. Make being together important, solo stuff is ok, but there has to be a balance.

I love her more with every day that passes. I have done my best to put these thing into action. This is good advice.

Where are you from? I’ve been asked this question several times over the years. The answer is complicated. If you want to know where I was born, that’s one answer. If you want to know where I grew up, that has multiple answers. Where did I go to high school? There’s another answer for that one as well. Simply put, I grew up in the south half of Oklahoma.

I feel very fortunate and I grew up where I did. Though I attended many schools, most of it occurred before I was 10 years old. I had the benefit of attending most of middle school and all of high school in the same little town in southeast Oklahoma. Durant was a good place to be in the early 90s.

We had moved from a much larger town in Oklahoma where social problems were beginning to develop. I heard when I was older that gang problems had started in the junior high I was attending. From what I was told, they started not long after I left. I am thankful that I missed that part.

It didn’t take long to settle down in the small-town life. I made friends quickly and before I knew it the end of seventh grade quickly became the beginning of my freshman year in college. Everything wasn’t perfect, because nothing ever is. There were girlfriend, breakups , drama at school, loss of friendships, figuring out what I want to do, and so much more.There are a ton of things that happened during those years that I may share on this blog one day. I’m thankful for the time that I lived there. I also remember being very thankful of my time there was over as well. It’s an interesting paradox.

I remember being in a hurry. I always wanted to be older and to do more. As my teenage years went on I could feel the town getting smaller. I know that many of you know exactly how this feels. It’s natural. It was time for change. When I was younger I blamed it on the town, but I now know the town did nothing wrong. It was just time for me to find a new hometown and to keep growing.

If you were part of my life doing those years, I am extremely thankful for you. If we were friends then, I pray you consider me a friend now. If I ever offended you, you have my heart felt apology. if we weren’t friends during those days, and you need one, I am here for that too. I look back on those years fondly. I am grateful. They are part of who I am.

I don’t know if you are like me, but it is easy to get comfortable. You do the same things week in and week out. You watch the same TV shows. You eat the same things. You talk the same talk and dream the same dreams, but do little about it. Does this sound like you? I hope not, but I have a feeling that it probably is. I know I am like that more than I want to be. Isn’t there more to living?

How hard is it to do something new? Go somewhere different? Meet new people? The answer: it can be very hard. It is hard to do all of these things when we are stuck in a rut and when you only have one viewpoint on life. It is hard to look at any options outside of what is normal. It is hard to be anything, but what we have been. You may not want it to be that way, but it is easy. It is routine.

There is a line from the movie The Matrix that sums this up:

You have been down there. You have been down that road. You know exactly where it ends. I know that its not where you want to be. – Trinity speaking to Neo.

When the opportunity to do something new or something that might impact your life arises it is easy to bypass it and go down a road you have already traveled. That is not where I want to be though. I have walked all those paths before. I have seen what they have to offer. The only hope for growing beyond where I am must be on the path I haven’t taken. This is true for my writing, my reading, my faith, and other aspects of my life as well.

I have friends that experienced this first hand. They made a decision to do something radically different with their lives. They uprooted their suburban way of doing things and moved to a different country to do work that has immediate and lasting value. When the opportunity arose they could have picked the way of comfort and politely declined, but they didn’t. They embarked on a journey like they had never experienced. I am happy for them. They stepped out of the comfortable into the significant.

I strive to do the same with my daily choices. I choose the path of significance over the path of comfort. I choose to work out to make my body healthy. I choose to eat good for the same reason. I choose to fill my mind with knowledge. I choose to spend my money wisely and invest in the future. I choose to be the husband and dad I need to be for my family. If I see I am headed down a wrong path I choose to turn around.

I don’t want to go down the roads I have been down over and over. I know what is down there and I know it isn’t where I want to be.

Which path are you choosing?