July 22, 2009

Brawl at the Beach

This is one of my favorite old posts. Updated from the summer of 2007.



It will not be long before the school bells start ringing again and it signals the end of another hectic summer. The summer of 2009 will be highlighted just like every summer for the past 15 summers; It is the annual Johnson family (my in-laws) beach trip.

Let me describe the week for you. 5 families, 18 people, and 1 house. More numerical trivia defines the week as 1 kitchen, 4 bathrooms, 4 in-laws, and 1 TV. There is another TV in brother in-law Brian’s bedroom but he retires to that room at 6pm every night so that TV was off limits. 10 adults and 8 children, a few of the adults could be classified as children but that is another story. There are 7 females and 11 males. Now refer back to that 1 TV thing and factor in only one remote.

Not that the average temperature on the beach is usually in excess of 100 degrees and that our A/C does all it can to cool the house below 75 has anything to do with it, but the week is always HOT! I used to print family tee shirts called The Brawl at the Beach, but my wife said that slogan painted a bad picture of our family and she wanted something more positive. I liked to call it The Brawl at the Beach because every summer for the last fifteen years this beach trip has been accentuated by an argument between spouses, a parent and child, or siblings. Every year, like clock work, someone was fighting by Wednesday.

You could call my family’s car the Vegas car because the 5 hour drive to the beach is spent speculating and placing odds on whom would be fighting first and what they would be fighting about. Oh yea, did I share that there are four in laws on this trip, and I am one of them? Well I am preparing to spend a week at the beach with the in-laws or better put, as THE IN-LAW. And this week is the best week of the year for me and my wife and kids.

I think what attracted me most to my wife was her family. My family communicates best over the phone and now by email. This family likes to hang out. That is “hang out with each other!” My family struggles to be civil to each other yet this family’s heartbeat is getting on each other’s nerves. It seems that they would rather argue together than be happy alone. I think there is a bible verse that says that in Proverbs! My family last took a beach trip or any vacation for that matter in 1973 and that was a true brawl at the beach.

But anyway this in-law revelry is so appealing to me that I am enthralled by the week like they have me in some brain washed hypnotic state. In a nutshell the beach trip is encompassed by husband-wife spats, bratty kids (except mine), smart-alec comments (that is me), hurt feelings, little relaxation, high stress, last nerves being trampled on and sheer and utter joy! It is always the best week of my year. I like to complain about it but that is part of the allure. Kind of like being female, you know they’re not happy unless they are complaining. (That is the sarcasm that often gets me in trouble.) But I enjoy complaining about having to go to the beach and I enjoy complaining after I come back, but secretly this is the week and the family that I always dreamed of.

Now don’t get me wrong about my side of the family, we just have a different way of showing our love. We must live several hours from each other where the in-laws all live on the family ponderosa. My family tries to have meals together during special holidays where the in-laws try and eat together as much as they can.

By the end of week, I hope my wife and kids appreciate me half as much as I do them. Often I just sit and stare at them across the room, while they sleep, or as they play. It is hard to ignore the wonderfulness of my wife and kids during the 7 days on the “Ark.” I want my kids to see the joy in being together as a family. And I want them to see that it ain’t always picture perfect. It ain’t always clean, nice, sweet, and even likeable. But it IS about family and about love. Don’t worry about the warts or black sheep in the family, but really focus on the loving glow that engulfs us all.

I think that Proverbs verse says “I’d rather eat salad with my in-laws than steak with the neighbors.” And I wouldn’t trade 1 Brawl at the Beach for 100 Disney Trips.

The sad truth is because of aging kids and more hectic schedules, this may be the last Brawl at the Beach. My hope is that it’s less than 53 weeks before we do it all over again and I am counting the weeks. Just don’t tell my mother in law.

July 20, 2009

TENACITY

I am trying to make myself a runner. This big body is hard to move. Oh I can swim, take spin class, and do the elliptical all day and sweat like Mark Sanford at a press conference. But I have a hard time making myself run. On Monday I ran the outside track for 30 minutes. Of course, every 5 minutes I had that little voice going, “Go inside and finish on the elliptical. Your shins hurt, you will pay for this tonight.” But I kept going. Plod Plod Plod. I have done 9 miles a week for the last two weeks - 3 times each week / 3 miles a pop.

Now if I could show the same tenacity with fighting off soft drinks!

I want to lose some weight and run a half marathon, but I am too impatient and will not really work for it. Our world is like that. We want instant gratification. But we all remember our grandmothers saying to us, “Haste makes waste” or “Good things come to those who wait.” One of the major mind sets I hope to teach my children are that any worthwhile accomplishment or acquisition takes time.

Tenacity is that internal doggedness that allows us to hang in there and overcome impatience.

I love setting goals at work and dreaming big. I am a firm believer that if we don’t stretch ourselves there is little reward. Difficult challenging goals create purpose. When we have those stretch goals we can’t get bogged down with obstacles. Road blocks change the course a bit but not the destination. One of my favorite John Wooden quotes is “The journey is better than the destination.”

She thought, “if I could just touch his robe, I will be healed” Matthew 9:21

This story inspires me. After she touched Jesus he stopped and asked, “Who touched me?”

The woman must have thought he was angry because she was unclean. Peter told Jesus to relax that there was a big crowd and someone just bumped him on accident.

“No, someone deliberately touched me, for I felt the power go out from me,” Jesus responded.

When Jesus turned and the crowed backed away the women cowered. She started to explain why she touched him. She must have been so embarrassed. I can imagine she was internally scolding herself about taking such a risk.

“Daughter,” he said to her, “your faith has made you well. Go in peace.” (Luke 8:47-48)

Pray today for the tenacity to overcome obstacles and negative people. Draw back on experiences when you persevered. Commit yourself to be focused on the main objective of excellence and avoid anything that detracts you or takes you off course. Ask for the tenacity to do the things that are important to God.

July 8, 2009

INITIATIVE

I think people today are lacking entrepreneurship. Somewhere along the way we lost some moxie, some mojo, the old intestinal fortitude. I have heard the leadership axiom a million times, “Ask for forgiveness, not permission.”

Come on folks, let’s try something new!

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results. It makes me want to scream, “Do something different!!!”

If we allow the fear of failure to keep us from acting, we can never reach our full potential. Nobody is perfect and we all make mistakes, but learning from failure is so valuable. (Read John Maxwell’s Failing Forward.) In athletics, I hate when the team with the lead backs off the game plan that is working to stall or try and preserve a lead. They worry about making a mistake. And what do they do? THEY MAKE A MISTAKE!!!! Hello defensive coordinators….no prevent defense! Keep blitzing!

I think the fear of failure or rejection is normal but it shouldn’t paralyze us. I know it hurts when the girl says "NO" to going out with you (I know it all too well) but that ain’t too bad. Life goes on! I know it stings when a donor doesn’t make a gift at the level we have planned, but the world keeps spinning. That is not as bad as living with the unanswered question of would she? Or would he?

Ask God for boldness so you can stretch the limitations of your life. This will help you reach your God given potential. Ask for help in overcoming the fears in your life and to be more Christ-like. Make decisions that will represent you and Christ!

July 1, 2009

Top 10 Signs Your Kid is Having a Bad Time at Summer Camp

10. Daily art brought home signed "Prisoner #325"

9. Sounds disappointed when he mentions not being able to use his “epi pen.”

8. He's asking you to sprinkle Prozac on his yogurt

7. When you pick him up, he proudly shows off his black eye

6. Camp director phones and says, "We're concerned about Psycho, I mean your son"

5. "Craft time" is 14 hours of cleaning the grout in the locker rooms

4. His name: "Jimmy"; his nickname: "What’s his name?"

3. Practices his new second language at dinner which is a string of four letter expletives

2. You ask to see the picture of his friends -- he shows you a photo of a stick

and the number 1 sign that your kid is having a bad time at summer camp.....

1. His favorite counselor is the crazy homeless man on the soccer fields