marshall, tj maxx and ross dress for less

I cannot even tell you how much I love these stores. I have spent more hours of my life, treasure troving my way around these stores than I care to admit. They just have the most incredible deals on the most incredible things. Everything from a sweet pair of kicks to some baggy sweats to a sweet lil skinny tie to some clearanced bedding that looks perfect with the new paint to some gourmet vanilla chai to some unique wall art with some rad quotes to a new macbook sleeve and on and on and on.

And for the most part, it's all super cheap.

Like, so super cheap that I have always been like, "wait a second...something fishy is going on here..."

So one day, I did some research and discovered why a lot of their items are so cheap. Sure there are some things that were just overstocked at a department store so they sent them to one of these stores to get them sold and then there is other stuff from last season and they're just clearing off the racks at Express or Nordstroms, but a lot of the time, the reason it is so cheap, is because it is "irregular". 

There is something wrong with it.

And its usually not something noticeably wrong with it, but there is something irregular about it. It might be a tiny hole that cannot be seen by the naked eye or it might be a stitch that is out of place or maybe the tag was sewn upside down accidentally or any number of other ludicrous things, but every single one of those things makes the product irregular and able to be sold at a discounted rate.

Even though there really is nothing "wrong" with it.

I'll buy me an irregular pair of Seven jeans for $12 bucks on the clearance rack, all day long, if the reason it's "irregular" is because it has two stitches on the butt where its supposed to have three stitches. 

The problem with those Seven jeans though is that somewhere along the line, someone decided that because it only had two stitches instead of three, that there was something "wrong" with them. 

Regardless of whether that "imperfection" had anything to do with anything. 

Regardless of the fact that most folks would never see anything wrong with them.

Regardless of the fact that those jeans might be absolutely perfect for me.

To me, the imperfect jeans are actually the perfect jeans.

Sadly enough, this mentality of "irregular" or "imperfect" or things being flawed meaning they are devalued and not worth as much as something else, has carried over into how we treat people...especially how we look at relationships, dating, boyfriends/girlfriends, etc.

The minute someone breaks up with someone else, the person who was broken up with immediately asks, "what is wrong with me?", and even if they don't ask it out loud, they walk out the door and ask themselves that question. They drive home asking themselves that question. They lie in bed asking themselves that question. They drive themselves crazy trying to figure out what is wrong with them. And just maybe, if they find out what is wrong with them, then they can fix it and become perfect.

Too bad, a "perfect" pair of Seven jeans wouldn't be perfect for me.

The irregular, imperfect ones were though.

And the truth is, you ARE imperfect...we all are.

There IS something irregular about you...we all are irregular.

The joy of life and the beauty of the journey is finding that person out there who sees your imperfections, your flaws, and all your irregularities and they see that it is all of those things that make you absolutely perfect for them. 

As one of my favorite musicians, Caitlin Crosby, says in one of her songs, "Imperfect is the new perfect..." and I think that is spot on.

I think if Jesus were to be cruising around these days, He would probably shop at TJ Maxx and Marshalls. I mean, He was all about finding and treasuring the passed over, imperfect, flawed folks.

So, go out there and find your "irregular" pair of jeans...you never know, they just might be the ones you hold on to for the rest of your life.

mad love...

the next best thing...

I have always had a problem with commitment.

And the thing was, it was any kind of commitment, not things that actually mattered.

It didn't matter if you were talking about committing to plans on Friday night, if you were talking about committing my summer to work at some camp, if you were talking about me committing myself to calling some girl my "girlfriend", or if you were simply talking about where we were going to eat dinner that night. I just have just always had trouble committing to that one thing.

I think the reason it has steadily been a struggle in my life is because I was always afraid that something better was going to come along. I was always afraid that better plans were gonna come up, that a better job was gonna come up, that a better girl was gonna come up, that a tastier dinner option was gonna come up, and on and on and on.

Then the sad thing was, often when the better option did come up...I would take it.

Can't tell you how many plans I backed out on cuz something "better" popped up. Can't tell you how many girls never became girlfriends because something "better" showed up. Can't tell you how many friendships got left in the dust because a new buddy came on the scene who seemed "better" at the time. Can't tell you how many years of spiritual growth I missed out on cuz I was bouncing around from church to church looking for something that was even "better" than the last one. Can't tell you how many years of my life I wasted because I was always looking for something better instead of soaking up what I had.

And what is really sad is the fact that I am not alone in this line of thinking.

We live in a society that is wired this exact same way. We are constantly looking for the next best thing and we will bounce on our current "best" thing for the next one, in a heartbeat. It doesn't matter if it's something as trivial as trading in the iPhone 4 you got 3 months ago for the iPhone 5 in a month or if it is something as tragic as trading in your spouse of 26 years for that new secretary that you just got at work.

It is still the same mindset.

We are not content with our right here and right nows. We aren't committed to what we have, right in front of our face, right this second. We are always on the lookout for the next thing to appease our senses a little more than the last thing did. We waste so much of our time, our emotions, our heart, our money, our lives, always trying to keep up with the next best thing.

AND.IT.IS.EXHAUSTING!!

But as long as that is your way of thinking, then its never going to end.

As long as you have trouble committing to RIGHT THIS MOMENT then you will constantly be looking for the next moment to sweep in and save the day.

Look around you right now...

Look at all the blessings you have in your world that you probably take for granted all the time and actually don't even appreciate most of the time because you wish you had something better.

Look at those precious relationships you've neglected for too long. Nothing is guaranteed. Go soak em up.

Look at that church you've been casually bouncing in and out of for 3 years now. Go jump in, head first, right in the deep end and see what happens.

If you're looking at your boyfriend or girlfriend as a "they'll do for now" or a "they're just the best I've come across but I'm hoping for better" then get out. You don't deserve that and neither do they.

The next best thing is a natural part of life because evolving is a natural part of life. Obviously my cell phone today is better than Zack Morris' cell phone. But, the problem comes when you aren't able to fully commit to the here and now because of the possibility of the next best thing.

As I have grown up some and matured some, I have gotten better at commitment. I've been committed to a job I love for 4+ years now, I've been committed to my incredible wife for 2+ years now, and I am even getting better about committing to places for dinner.

Godsey's anyone?

ninja time with Jackson...

I work at a church that has the traditional Wednesday night suppers and Bible Study in the Fellowship Hall. If you grew up in the South, in and around the Baptist world, then you know what I'm talking about. And while the adults are eating dinner, a lot of the younger kids like to goof off and run around. So me, the big kid that I am, love taking the time to goof off with the young kids for a little while...just long enough so that I don't get in trouble for getting the kids too wound up and too excited.

While I'm busy running amuck with the kiddos, there's one aspect of this goofing off time that I love. Our children's minister here at the church has a son named Jackson and he is a rad lil dude who I can chat with about Marvel Comics, Harry Potter, being a ninja, and other incredible things like that. And on Wednesday nights, just for a few minutes, we will usually have ourselves a little ninja battle. He, along with a couple of his little buddies, will come and attack me and I have to fend them off like a ninja. It is quite a blast and I am pretty sure that Jackson loves it. He is smiling ear-to-ear and giggling the whole time.

This might not seem like much to any of y'all, but I feel like this is a pretty big deal. A quote that I have grown to love says that "success is...to win the affection...of children" so according to this quote, each and every Wednesday that I have my little ninja battles, that day is a successful day for me.

What does it mean for you to be successful? What does it mean for you to have an impact on this world? What does it mean for you to lay your head down on your pillow at night and know that you have made the world around you a better place?

Usually when we think of such things, we think on large scales, we think of huge things we have to begin, create or do. We think about starting a non-profit or volunteering with homeless folks for a semester. We think of mission trips to Africa or evangelizing on street corners. We think of selling all our excess clothes and giving the money to orphans and widows. We always think of success and changing the world in these big kinds of ways, but is that really all that "success" is?

The quote I mentioned above, that I have grown to love says this...

To laugh often and love much; to win the respect of intellingent persons and the affection of children; to earn the approbation of honest citizens and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to give of one's self; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to have played and laughed with enthusiasm and sung with exultation; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived - this is to have succeeded.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

When I think about that quote, it puts success, impact and changing the world in a completely different perspective and it puts it in a very doable perspective...not only for me, but for any of us. We can all laugh and love often. We can be respectful and courteous to others. We can win the affections of kids. We can turn the other cheek and love our enemies. We can appreciate the beauty of people and things all around us. We can seek out and discover the best in others. We can give of our time, our energy, our finances and our lives. We can leave this world a bit better by treating folks well, planting some flowers or helping fund a medical clinic in Rwanda. We can play and laugh with all our hearts, we can sing songs and worship like there's no tomorrow, and we can have joy when nobody else thinks we can. We can smile at the lady at Starbucks, we can call the guy taking our order by name, we can tip good, and we can treat the cashier at Wal-Mart with dignity and respect.

When we look at it like this, success and changing the world doesn't seem so overwhelming. It can happen one smile at a time, one warm greeting at a time, one heart-to-heart at a time. It actually just takes us changing ourselves a little bit. 

Leo Tolstoy said, "Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself." 

Gandhi said, "Be the change you wish to see in the world."

Are you becoming the person that can truly impact and change the world around you? 

It's not really as difficult as you might think.

soccer, sno cones and sex trafficking

If you're not a soccer fan or if you live in a cave, then you might have missed one of the best soccer games ever a couple weeks ago when the US Women's team beat a very tough Brazil team. The game was the biggest emotional roller coaster ever and the US Women's team couldn't seem to catch a break.

It was as if the soccer gods were conspiring against them or as if the refs just hated the US or something. From the first bogus red card, to the penalty kick re-take, to the second goal which was a missed offsides call, to the Brazilian players faking injury, to the girl hopping off the stretcher and running to the sideline fiasco, and on and on and on.

I was so frikkin angry.

I was just sitting there with my wife and I was screaming "I WANT JUSTICE!!!"

And then we got it...Abby Wambach's magical header, in the waining moments of stoppage time, in extra time, gave us life with a 2-2 tie and I just knew it was destiny. The US then went on to win the game, in penalty kicks. Hope made an incredible save and every US kicker slotted their shot in the back of the net.

JUSTICE!!!

But before the "justice" came, I cannot tell you how worked up and angry I was. I just kept saying things like, "This isn't fair. These girls don't deserve this. These refs are out to get them." I was so upset...

About a soccer game.

And if you think that's ridiculous, then how about this one? One time in high school, I had just gotten back to the house after a long day of roughing it in the sun, getting tan, playing volleyball, and laying by the pool and I was enjoying a delicious sno cone. Well, I was goofing around or something and I ended up dropping my delicious sno cone on the ground. And right now you're saying to yourself, "No big deal", right?

Wrong

I let out a yell like a banshee and then proceeded to kick a hole in the wall.

I...kicked a hole...in the wall...because I dropped my sno cone.

Just too much injustice for me to take I guess.

Why do we care so much about things that don't really matter? Why do we get so worked up about things that really have no bearing in life? Why do we get so angry at the injustice of trivial things like sports, tv shows, and sno cones? Why do we find joy in things so fragile that it is wrecked by the spilling of a delicious icy treat?

But maybe the better questions than all of those are...

Why don't we care so much about things that really matter? Why don't we get worked up about things that have huge bearing in life? Why don't we get angry at the injustice of serious things like sex trafficking, starving kids, widows and orphans? Why don't we find joy in things more solid and consistent so that it's not wrecked by the spilling of a delicious icy treat?

So many of us spend so much of our heart, so much of our emotions and so much of our time and energy on things that have almost zero eternal significance. Seriously, ZERO.

What things do you care about, and I mean truly care about? What things get you worked up that really matter? What injustices make you angry, so angry that you're willing to step out there and do something about it? What fights are you fighting? What things of genuine value stir your heart?

We can do better.

We can be better.

Let's do this.

brownwood, texas...heaven on earth?!?

The Bible talks a lot about Heaven on Earth and things like "bringing Heaven to Earth" or "on Earth as it is in Heaven" and to be honest, for much of my life, those were empty words. They were just some fancy Biblical jargon or philosophical ideals, but not something that I could see in a realistic light.

But as I have grown, learned, studied Scripture, and simply lived life, I have seen how realistic this can actually be.

Every summer my home church goes to their Youth Camp in the summer. Growing up, it was always one of my favorite weeks of the year, period, but I never thought much about why it was one of my favorite weeks of the year. I mean, it was camp...enough said, right? Then, as I have gotten older, I have gone back to the camp to serve and even to be the Camp Pastor and it still remains one of my favorite weeks of the year. I am no longer doing all the kiddo camp stuff, yet it is still a magical place.

Why is this?

In our college group here, we've been studying the work of the Holy Spirit and lately we have been pouring through Acts 2, and in that chapter there is this lil picture of what seems to be somewhat of a picturesque community--almost like a lil Heaven on Earth. It says things like, "everyone was filled with awe..." and "they broke bread...and ate together with glad and sincere hearts" and even how they enjoyed "...the favor of all the people."

The reason why everything seems so picturesque there in Acts and the reason why Camp is always one of my favorite moments of the year, is because I believe that in those moments we are seeing a glimpse into how God designed life to be lived. 

We are praying together, we are fellowshipping and goofing off together, we are playing together, we are breaking bread together, we are taking care of each other's needs, we are laughing and singing together, we are experiencing God together, and while all this is going on, the people on the outside looking in, are digging it...or in Biblical terms, when we live life the way God intended, we will be, "enjoying the favor of all the people."

Bringing Heaven to Earth is not as unrealistic or as ginormous of a task as it might sound. Trust me, if it can happen in Brownwood, Texas, it can happen anywhere.

2320 friends...

I have 2320 "friends" on Facebook.

That is not a stat that is to sound popular, to sound insignificant or for you to compare yourself to me and think, "man, I am so much cooler than JR..." or to think just the opposite, "man, I am nowhere near as cool as JR..." I am fully aware that there are folks out there who have thousands of Facebook friends.

I know that some of them are genuine friends. I know some of them are family. I know some of them are friends from back-in-the-day that you just got reacquainted with. I know that some of them were added simply because they were wearing a bikini in their profile pic. I know that some of them are there because you are "supposed" to be friends with them. I know some of them are there because they requested to be your friend and you can't say no to folks. And I know that this list could go on and on.

The reason I point this out is because having friends and having friends are two totally different things.

I feel like my wife and I are pretty swell individuals. We have lots of friends, we have lots of close relationships with people, we are not too shabby to hangout with, we can crack a funny joke every now and then (my wife is hilarious actually), I am good to go play ball with or frisbee golf, we love having heart-to-hearts with people, and we have almost 4000 friends combined on Facebook.

But all that being said, do you know how many invites we got this weekend for 4th of July festivities? How many invites we got to go to the lake or to come over for a BBQ?

One...

One invite.

Now, let me assure you that this is not a "feel sorry for me" post. If you are hearing that then please stop. We have no problem with our lack of popularity this weekend. We had a great weekend together and she's my best friend in the world so getting to hang out with just her is no consolation prize by any stretch of the imagination. I could kick it with my boo 24/7 and love my life.

But, it did get us thinking...

If we have almost 4000 Facebook friends, if we have tons of people we feel close to, if we have plenty of friends we hangout with, if we are not "unpopular", and yet we only got ONE invite for the weekend to do anything at all, then how many people out there spent this holiday, as well as many many others, with ZERO invites from anybody, to do anything?

And how many of those didn't have their best friend of a wife to kick it with?

How many of those spent it completely alone?

And you might be asking yourself, "What's this got to do with me JR?" And to be honest, I have been asking myself that same question.

What does this have to do with me?

Is it my responsibility to befriend folks who don't have friends? Is it my duty to love on folks who don't really have many folks who love on them? Is this my problem to fix? Am I supposed to actively be a part of the solution? Am I supposed to be inviting those out there on the ZERO invite list to a BBQ at my house? What is my obligation to this?

In the Gospels, Jesus seems to touch on this very idea saying things like, "If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you?" and then again with, "If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?"  


There seems to be this call to reach out to those who are on the ZERO invite list. There seems to be a call to love those who don't have folks loving on them, who are awkward to love, and just maybe, are simply hard as crap to love.


By no means do I have this figured out and by no means am I anywhere close to having this thing perfected, but it is something that I am wrestling with these days. 


How many of us ever reach out to those who have nobody? How many of us befriend those on the ZERO invite list? How many of us talk to "those folks" any place aside from church? And sadly enough, how many of us don't even talk to "those people" at church?


Quit only loving those who love you.


Quit only doing good to those who do good to you.


Quit only greeting your people.


How frikkin' great would it be to get as many people off the ZERO invite list as possible??


I guess that's why it's called The Greatest Commandment, huh?

too many grape Christians...

Anyone ever had a Purple Herman?? What's a Purple Herman you ask??

It's a delicious, purple, grape-flavored candy in the Tangy Taffy world. This was something that was introduced to me during my seminary days, by one of my best friends. We seemed to always have to snag a Purple Herman on our way to Tonkawa, Peacock Lane or to any one of our many sacred spots.

Well, one day, as I was munching on a Purple Herman, I also happened to have some real grapes on hand, so I was snacking on them as well. I have no idea why I was snacking on a giant stick of taffy while munching on some grapes, but this is what was happening. It was in this moment that I realized something...something that seemed extremely profound to me. Get ready to have your mind blown...

Grape flavoring tastes nothing like real grapes...

Holy cow!! How about them apples? or grapes?

So I began thinking about it, and everything "grape" that I had ever experienced tasted nothing like real grapes. Whether it was Big League Chew, grape sno-cones, grape soda or a good ol' Purple Herman, none of them tasted anything like the real thing.

I continued to think about it and guess what? This same thing applied to most flavors.

Watermelon Jolly Ranchers taste nothing like real watermelon...and they have ZERO to do with ranching, ranches, rustling cattle, or anything like that...but that's a different blog.

Strawberry Laffy Taffy tastes nothing like real strawberries.

Orange Sunkist tastes nothing like real oranges.

And I could go on and on...

The truth is, I don't know of any "fruit flavors" that actually taste like the fruit they are supposed to be representing. But at some point in time, somebody decided to call this flavor grape and this other flavor watermelon and this other flavor strawberry and it just became accepted as reality...even though they have ZERO resemblance to the real thing. And what's nuts is, when someone wants to make a new product, say a new type of candy, and they want it to be grape flavored, what do they try and make it resemble? Real grape flavor?? No sir...They just follow what everyone else has done, they copy the grape flavor that has been accepted as "grape flavor" and they replicate that. It's like they've totally forgotten that there's even another grape flavor out there...the real one.

Sadly enough, this is what happens to the Christian faith much of the time. Folks out there who claim to be "christian" start living life a certain way, start believing certain things, start claiming certain "truths" and at some point, it just becomes accepted as reality...even though a lot of the time they have ZERO resemblance to the real thing. And then what happens when new folks get interested in Christianity or become Christians? They just end up copying the manufactured, artificial "christianity" that has been accepted as reality. People lose sight of the real thing and they don't realize that the true Christ is still right there, waiting to be followed, waiting to be copied, waiting to be replicated.

There are way too many grape Christians out there...let's get real.

let's get this thing rollin'...

Remix for life, huh? What's that even mean? Glad you asked...

A remix of a song is taking something you've already heard, already seen, already experienced, etc., and then adding something to it in order to bring about something fresh and new. Now, you don't just toss the old stuff to the curb, as if it weren't valuable or important to the new mix to come, nor do you just keep listening to the same old tune, over and over again. What you do is you evolve and you use the beautiful bits and pieces of it all, to make the best new mix possible.

You see, I feel like this is essentially what life is all about. We all enter today with an entire life full of things we've heard, things we've seen, things we've experienced, and what we do with all of that stuff is what makes all the difference. You can choose to toss to the curb, all those experiences both good and bad, or you can just sit idle in life, playing the same tune over and over again. But, if you truly wanna get out there and experience life, what you do is evolve and you take all those beautiful bits and pieces of the life you've been living and you turn it into something fresh and new.

Today is your chance at a remix...

And the best part of all of this is the fact that each and every day, each and every moment to each and every day, is a new shot, a new chance, a new opportunity to mix-it-up. My life is a constant remix of the life I've lived up until now, and I have no idea what tomorrow is gonna look like,  but I can guarantee you that I'm gonna try and make it tighter than today.

What's your remix gonna look like? It's completely up to you...