I have only been to Utah once. It was during the week of the playoff matchup between the Bulls and the Jazz in the summer of 1998. I had never seen the mountains like I saw them there near Salt Lake City. They were enormous. They were beautiful. It definitely made me feel small.

Those mountains are not even big by comparison with many others in the US. That same summer I went to Colorado and was with a group that drove up Pikes Peak. Oy. I don’t think I realized that it could be 90 degrees at the bottom of the mountain and in the 30 degree range at the top. So, needless to say, I didn’t get out of the van for long. The elevation also got to me and I fell asleep. That was a big mountain. I almost thought we were going to crash on the way down from that one. The driver smoked the brakes for all they were worth!

I remember those mountains well. They were big and I am small. This is how the problems of life feel to me sometimes. They are so big. So formidable. So unscaleable. Or so it seems. They overwhelm me at times and it is all I can do to stand, let alone fight and climb.

Then, I get a fresh reminder of reality at church this morning at Lifechurch.tv. Pastor Craig Groeshel has been speaking on Toxic things in our lives. This morning was about Toxic words. Words have the power of life and they have the power of death. It just depends on how they are used. The old saying is not true. Sticks and stones will break your bones…and words can hurt even worse. Here are the words that got me:

I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Mark 11:23

My God is bigger than the mountains. The problems may be big, but my God is bigger. This God lives in my heart. How often do I forget that? So, I can move forward with confidence. I will pray with my legs. I will pray like it depends on God and work like it depends on me. I will trust the words God has spoken that He wants good for me and not evil. I choose to believe.

Mountain, it is time for you to move.

Why is it that the simple things of this life are so hard to grasp sometimes? I was listening to Zig Ziglar a couple of days ago and he asked the question, “How can you hit a target you can’t see?” He then asked a deeper question. “How can you hit a target you don’t even have?” The simple thing that has been hard to grasp? I need to have a plan. Not just in my head. I need to keep it in front of me where I can see it. Where I can’t ignore it. How do I expect to get anywhere without it?

“Without a plan, you cannot beat your competition.” Fran Tarkenton The truth is, without a plan, you can’t do much at all.

I was riding my motorcycle back from work today and had this thought, ‘ What if I planned my monthly budget out six months in advance?’ I about fell of my bike because of the simplicity and the profoundness of this thought. We are so programmed to live for today aren’t we? Do you see this in your own life? I know I see it in mine.

I wonder if that is why many people settle for living from paycheck to paycheck? Is it they don’t know how to make a plan for their money? Why do so many people say they want to start a business and never do? They fail to plan. If we don’t know what we are going to be doing tomorrow, how on earth could we be successful in business where you have to forecast sales and schedule clients?

So, I am making a commitment to myself right now. I am going to make a solid plan for the next 4 1/2 months. I am going to use the fire out of my outlook and my iPhone calendar. I have the eerie feeling that this simple paradigm shift will cause a firestorm of productivity that I have never known.

On a side note, I read this blog post by Michael Hyatt today about To-Do lists. Check it out.

Have you ever found that you don’t enjoy something as much as you once did? It is not that the activity has changed, you have. The things that mattered the most at one point in time are now trivial things that only come up now and again. Seasons change and so do people.

A wise man once said, "For everything there is a season." I am finding this true in my own life more and more. The more the seasons change, the more I find myself different than I once was. This is not a bad thing. At one point in time I considered it madness to get up before 8 am unless I had to. Sleeping till 10 was even better than that. Now, my alarm is set for 5:00 am every day (except maybe Saturday and I will sleep in till about 7. It is hard to pass up waking up next to my wife and son. I am usually gone before they get up.)I used to enjoy laying around and loafing my days away. Now I have to be doing something productive…or mostly productive.

It is more than just these things though. With every stage of life I find myself at a place of possible reinvention. The things I have outgrown I have the option to remove from my life. I have the freedom to discover the things that my heart and soul are searching for. I don’t have to be a fixed object. The seasons change and I can too. I must.

One of the definitions of insanity is doing the same thing over and over the same way and expecting different results. Could it be the seasons have changed and it is time to change with them? I would much rather be my authentic self in the season that I am in. Do you resist change? Are you trying to remain in a season of life that is over?

Change is never easy. My thought is this: If it takes you closer to being your authentic self, it is worth the struggle.

I went to a wedding the other day. I don’t know the couple that well, but I used to be the groom’s youth leader and he asked me to come. It was a small ceremony. Very intimate. Very nice.

I went to the wedding by myself and I found that I missed my wife very badly. I saw the bride come through the doors of the chapel and suddenly I went back in time over 11 years to one of the most beautiful sights I had ever seen. My wife was stunning as her father escorted her down the isle. She glowed like I had never seen before. I cried when I saw her. She was beauty in all its splendor.

The minister asked who would give the bride. Again, I was taken back, standing at the alter. My father-in-law gave her to me and then whispered in my ear that I had his full blessing. Words that still are precious to me.

They stood in front of family and friends and pledged their lives to each other. Standing there eleven years ago I had no idea how precious and true those vows we spoke to each other were. The vows we spoke to each other are as follows:

I take you to be my wedded wife / to have and to hold from this day forward / for better or worse / for richer or poorer / in sickness and in health / in the happiness that may brighten our days / in the sadness that my darken our days / to love and cherish till death do us part

With this ring / I pledge my life to you as your husband. May my strength by your protection / May my character be your pride / May I so love that you will find in me / the haven for which your heart truly long / I will endeavor to love you as Christ loves me / in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

With this ring / I pledge my life to you as your wife / I will receive your love as you have pledged / and endeavor to return to you the same kind of love / At all times and under all circumstances / I will love you constantly / Only death will break the pledge which I give to you today / In this spirit I give my love to you.

When we were first married we were full of dreams (still are) and we were certain that nothing bad was going to happen. Here we are 11 years later. I am more in love with her today that ever before. Life has battered us at times. We have had opportunities to grow apart over the years, but we have never taken them. Nor will we. We have held on to each other for better and for worse. We have lived through times of plenty and times where we didn’t have much. We have lived through sickness and been healthy again. We have walked loved ones to the grave. We have welcomed new life into our family. I cherish her. I know she feels the same. It hasn’t been easy, but the most worthwhile things rarely are. She is my bride. I am proud to be her husband.

So, I pray for this couple that they have a long and happy marriage. We never know what the years will hold, but it is so much better to walk along together.

I love you Marixa.

I got stopped the other day. I was heading to lunch south of where I work and an officer saw me without my seatbelt on. The moment I saw him I put it on. He followed me for a few blocks, flashed his lights, and pulled me over.

He came up to the car and asked me if I knew why I was being stopped and asked for my license and registration. I had my seatbelt on when he got up to the car. He looked at it and then told me that when I had passed him I was not wearing it.

In this moment I had a choice to make: Do I admit that I had done wrong? Or do I a make a case that I had it on now? Fortunately I took the responsible route and owned up for what I had done.

He went back to his car to do whatever it is that police officers do and it gave me a few minutes to think. The public has a skewed picture of most police officers. The man who was writing me a ticket was professional, courteous, and kind. He was doing the job that he had been entrusted with, keeping the public safe. He came back to the car and I apologized for now following the law and thanked him for his time. He did his job and did it well. I didn’t like the ticket I was now holding, but that was my fault, not his.

I was reminded of all of this yesterday when I went to the county courthouse to pay for the ticket. I was standing in line at the court clerks office. An officer was standing against the wall watching over everything. A woman walked up with her granddaughter in tow. She looked down at her granddaughter and told her to be good or the police officer would lock her up. He smiled at the girl and told her that he wouldn’t do that and that he was there to help. The lady smirked and told the girl again to behave or the cop would do her in. He smiled at the girl and told her again that he was on her side. The officer walked away and the woman looked at me and said, "On our side, yeah right." This man was kind and very professional. He didn’t deserve that.

I was standing in line to pay for a ticket that I deserved. I am certain the woman was standing there for the very same reason. She and I had very different views on why we were there and whose fault it was. Have you encountered situations like this? Passing blame and making someone else the villain seems to be a way of life for many. I don’t want to live like this. Through this whole process I didn’t get angry (except at myself). I chose to be accountable for my actions. I made the right choice.