Wednesday, May 20, 2009

He's not choking on this one!

242 / +2.6 / 23 - "I've been a bad boy".....

Phil Michelson is the #2 player in the world in golf. And I have to say - I love/hate to watch him. He really seems like a class act, but his game is frustrating. He can be awesome or awful. On the other hand I am bad or awful. He has a reputation as a "choker". He can be heading into the final round with a 5 shot lead and then blow it. He is addicted to his driver when a 3 wood would serve him better. But at the end of the day he is still ranked #2 in the world behind Tiger Woods.

And while he may choke at times on the golf course - he's not choking where it counts the most. He is a strong family man with a beautiful wife and three children. And from the outside looking in it appears he has his priorities right. That is why today he suspended his play in the PGA indefinitely. His wife has been diagnosed with breast cancer. You can read the story here if you would like.

So many times celebrities are paraded before us and while they have tremendous successes in their field they are often incredible losers in life. It's nice to see that in the things that matter most Phil Michelson gets it. I pray that all goes well with his wife's treatments. That is much more important than golf!

Saturday, May 9, 2009

I miss you mom.

239.4 / -2.6 / 25.6

I don't often talk about my mom. There are a number of reasons - the main one being it is painful. My mom had an incredible battle with mental illness. I still struggle with my brother's mental problems and I have to fight not to blame that on my mom too. Through no fault of her own she was simply not a nurturing person. I think that the survival skills she had to develop in her own childhood made her hard and defensive.

My mom did have some incredible attributes however. She was a voracious reader. She loved God. She worshiped the ground my dad walked on. She would literally fight hell for her three boys. While she had few close friends, she was loyal to them with a vengeance.

But with tomorrow being mothers day I wish I could see here again. She has been gone for nearly 10 years now. And to be honest - I'm not sure I would like to see her as she was. But I'd really like to see her as she is now. She is no longer in the pain of loneliness and mental anguish that she carried most of her life. She would no longer be worried about Mark. She would have cast aside the "stuff of life" that made her sometimes difficult. The corruptible has been replaced with incorruptible. She is now the full blown version of what her savior intended for her to be.

I have not said it in a very long time - so I want to say it here. I love you mom. You gave me life.
You really had no greater joy than to see you kids following Jesus. You gave me the best you had. While I have felt many times that it was not enough. I have found that in God's economy it was.

I guess the truth is if I could see you again just the way you were, I really would probably jump at the chance. Even if it meant we would would disagree about something. I do love you. And I know you WILL have a great Mother's Day - because you are having yet another Mother's Day in heaven. One day we will celebrate it together before the throne.

OK - who hid the tissues?