Turning 40...

We'll today was the big day...40! People have been teasing me about this day for several weeks now. My brother asked me this morning if I felt 40. I told him I was just as overweight and my blood pressure was just as high as it was when I was 39, so not much different. Had a pretty quiet day for the most part here at the house with the wife and kids. Went to Outback Steakhouse with the fam on a very generous gift card I received and then came home to watch football.

Overall, my 40 years to this point have been blessed. God is gracious and have been more so to me than I deserve. I have an awesome wife who makes me a hero every day. I have three boys who show me more love than I ever thought possible. I am scared each day as I watch them grow up as I think about the responsibility I have to lead them into authentic manhood. Too many moments go by too fast. I try to remember what was going on in my head at 9 or 7 years old. I was probably looking for a baseball game to play. All of a sudden, I was in middle school - then high school and still looking for a baseball game to play. I know that they will face some serious challenges very soon and I pray that I will be more proactive to prepare them.

Here are some things I want to do in the next year:
1. I have to lose some weight. Too much weight and too much stress will cost me time later on. Need to drop about 30 pounds.
2. I need to turn the tv off more and take the boys fishing and to the driving range more often.
3. I need to get a trip somewhere with just my wife.
4. I need to get out of the office and into the marketplace more often.
5. I need to spend a lot more time in God's Word and a lot less time on Facebook and PS3.
6. I need to invest in the men that God has placed in my life on a deeper level. Men need Men to be what God has called them to be.
7. I need to take a one-on-one trip with Nathan and Drew each somewhere.

So 40 is not so bad so far, but I guess now it's time to grow up. :)

Presidential Politics - Something you might not hear on liberal NBC or CNN

I normally try to stay out of politics a whole lot for many reasons. However, here is an interesting post "Why I Am Ticked at Joe Biden" from Tim Stevens, executive pastor at Granger Community Church about an important and under-heard topic regarding this year's presidential election. You won't hear this one much on today's liberal biased media, especially since it critcizes the Obama campaign. With all the attack levied on Sarah Palin after her candidacy was announced, why wasn't this one brought up with respect to Joe Biden at all?

Yesterday I had a guy ask me my thoughts about the presidential race. My answer was, "I am glad that my faith and trust is in the Lord Jesus Christ and not on any presidential candidate."

USA Takes Back the Ryder Cup!

Ok, so it's a little late for my blog: Lots going on earlier this week. But, I was so stoked Sunday afternoon to watch the final matches of the Ryder Cup at Valhalla. When I arrived home, Andrew Kim had already defeated Sergio Garcia and the U.S. was up in most of the matches. Some of the major highlights of Sunday were Hunter Mahan's putt on 17 to insure at least a half point, J.B. Holmes sticking it right up on the pin on 17, and of course Boo Weekley disposing of his opponent and giving Lee Westwood some "shut-up juice" in the process.

If you aren't a big fan of golf, this event takes place every 2 years between the best golfers from the U.S. and the best golfers from Eur. ope. The Red, White, and Blue won without the world #1 in Tiger Woods. This was the first time the U.S. had won the event since 1999, just one month before Payne Stewart died. It was a great historic moment that I was pumped to watch.

Congrats to the good ol' USA!

Ryder Cup Update - Day Two

The Euros moved a little closer today, but for the most part the USA team played real well. They blew a lot of the morning matches and let Europe make up some more ground. In the afternoon matches Boo Weekley and J.B. Holmes continued as crowd favorites and beat the snotty brit Lee Westwood. The other three matches were back and forth. I thought Fyruk was going to single-handly bring his team back by putting his irons right up against the pin, but they lost. Mickelson and Mahan help on for the halve in the last match.

End of Day Two - USA 9-7. Need 5 1/2 points in the 12 matches tomorrow. Come on boys!

Ryder Cup Day 1 - USA leads 5 1/2 to 2 1/2

After the first day, the US took a big lead in the quest for the Ryder Cup. Justin Leonard and Hunter Mahan continued their dominance and took down Sergio Garcia and Miguel Angel Jiminez. Lefty Mickelson and Anthony Kim came back from 3 strokes down to beat Padrig Harrington and Grahame McDowell by 2 holes. Finally, the good ol' boys J.B. Holmes and Boo Weekley sprayed it all over, but still managed to come away with a half. The only USA team that lost was Steve Stricker and Ben Curtis. Early on this afternoon, the Euros had three flags on the board and the USA only had one. By the end of the day, the US had two flags, Euro had one, and there was one tie.

Tomorrow will be a new day and hopefully this young team will keep on prevailing. It doesn't get much better than this.

Ryder Cup Time

It's time for one of my favorite sporting events to watch. Ever since the US team took the cup in 1999, I have been hooked every two years on this event. Although the U.S. hasn't won the cup since then, I get sucked in every time in this competition.

After the morning round, the U.S. took a 3-1 lead on the Europeans. I think this was somewhat of a surprise. I watched most of it from the house this morning while waiting on a guy to install my new shower door. Justin Leonard and Hunter Mahan came back from being down and put a spanking on Stenson and Casey. Mickelson and Kim went blow for blow with Harrington and Karlsson and came out with a half point, and Stewart Cink and Chad Cambell came back and beat Justin Rose and Ian Poulter. Looks like it may be a fun weekend!

Jack Is Back

Here's what you and I have been waiting 18 months for!