June 27, 2011

19 and Counting

So today…is a good day…why??

Well 19 years ago today I saw a vision of loveliness come down an aisle.  Yep today my girlfriend made the nutty decision to say “I Do” in front of a few folks…am I glad she did?? Good question…

News flash!! Marriage is tough!  OK maybe not red hot news flash…but it is hard…once all the fluff and excitement of the wedding and honeymoon is over you wake up and go… “Hi…who are you again??” I know that sounds stupid…but if you are married hopefully you get my meaning..

Leading up to the ceremony we get all the advice we can take….and most we didn’t ask for in the first place about what it takes to have a good marriage…but afterwards…the two newlyweds and shown the door of the church and everyone seems to say…. “Well….see ya later…let’s us know when the kid is born…”

Then you go through the growing pains of figuring out the good parts and the bad parts of the person you couldn’t live without.  And many times all those people who had advice for you going in…have not much help during the actual marriage…why??  Cause they are struggling in their own marriage…now I don’t say that to say that everyone is struggling…I say that as a reminder that marriage is tough…even for the Uncle & Aunt Know-it-all…

My bride and I’s marriage has been what I think has been a typical marriage…good times…great times..and rough times…we are that typical opposites attract couple…which we both have a love/hate feeling about…she is very good with money and organization…and I am real good at spending money and crashing well laid out plans…she has often referred to me as the bull in a china closet…it is a term I can’t deny…

Through all of the muck and double rainbows…the biggest thing in common we have is our love for God…who..without His intervening in a few things…would have made us one of those lovely stats about married and divorced…I know that sounds simple…but when the mucky parts of marriage get dark and closed in…we both turn to Him..even during my valley time of late…she has been moving along in her walk…waiting for me to get back on track…and when I am going good and she is off I keep faithful as well waiting for her…together we rely on Him to help us understand each other…sometimes we hear Him and things go well…and sometimes we only hear ourselves…which is when we get ourselves in trouble..

I realize more today that He planned all this and for our life together to be what it is and where we are…have I enjoyed all of His plan?  Nope…mainly because I am starting to see how much my selfishness and pride has gotten in the way of being a better husband…A LOT!!! I have done things and said things that I wish I could have back…and I still have some days of being a complete jerk…but she has a huge amount of forgiveness for my faults…and for that I am big time thankful…

So after 19 years…am I glad that she came down that aisle and said “I Do”??  Still a valid question…with all the ups and downs…kids…dogs…houses…cars….looks of disappointment…looks of joy…there is no question in my mind….

YES!

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June 23, 2011

Down In The Valley

WOW where did the time go???
I know it has been way too long….life has been getting in the way of my writing here. Not that I think you have been waiting since April for my next writing..I hope you haven’t…cause you might be skin and bones by now…probably more bones than skin…
Well…let’s see…scale check…280 lbs this morning…not bad…but I have hit the wall..I just don’t have the want to to keep going right now..still good weight loss but it should be way more than that…but I will keep at it…just not as motivated…seems to be a consistent thing in my life…I heard this week from the pulpit that I am an otter personality…one that starts a lot of things…but doesn’t usually finish them…uh..like uh…blogs…and weight loss…and Bible study…and oh…wait…there is a few blog topics in there…..so OK maybe I do have a few things I could write about.. HEHE
Anyway…I will say that the past few months have been interesting to say the least…I think the best way to phrase it is I have been in a bit of a valley..and I can’t say what it is that is leading me there…other than my quiet time has been inconsistent to almost nil…and that, if I can be honest with myself, is where the majority of the problem really lies…I know that if I spend the time to seek God He is there…the great thing is that He is there even when I don’t seek Him.
I tell you this not as a way to publicly humiliate myself about not being a good Christian…but I say it to give my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ a bit of hope..to be a day in day devoted turned on for Christ Christian is tough.
I know this may shock some of you who are not believers but…ready?? I still sin ( cue gasp)…and sin will still be a part of my life no matter how much I read from Scriptures or how much time I spend in prayer…what I think we can lose sight of as Christians is how we should react when we don’t want to be Christian…
Yep…I said it..
There are times lately when life and those around me have made life hell that I have fleeting moments of chucking the Christian walk and just give into those sinful natures…
Well as I got back into my quiet time again this morning I remembered the apostle Paul struggled with sin…and I am not that far out to think I am better than him…
Struggles come and go…what we do with the valleys in our life can be a great time to look back and say…yep I stunk at this Christian walk for a bit but God was there waiting for me…and when I turned my eyes back to Him and placed my trust in Him…then that valley seemed not as big as it did yesterday…

What about you?? What have you done to get yourself out of the valley? Leave a comment and let me know.

Also if I can be praying for you…let me know as well…time to get groovin’

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April 15, 2011

Was That Really NAB?

Howdy folks….been a bit I know…sorry…life has a way of getting busy…I am writing on the flight home from the biggest convention there is for broadcasters. It is simply called NAB which stands for the National Association of Broadcasters.

NAB is a HUGE convention held in Las Vegas every year. Honestly it is a time for us technical folks to get out of town and see the new toys. It is also a time to see old friends make new ones and see what everybody thinks about the direction of our industry.

Funny thing happened on the way to NAB though…it has been high jacked by content folks…not technical folks. Now let me say that I am not sure it is a good thing or a bad thing…trying to really digest it…but my big ol’ gut says bad.

The keynote speaker was James Cameron and there was a conversation with Kevin Smith day as well..good folks…but really what can they offer a bunch of technical guys…sure Cameron can talk about how great 3D is and how he did this and did that to save the movie industry and Smith can tell us the struggles to get a movie made…but this is a conference of broadcasters not movie people.

Content is important…but this convention has always been about how to get that content on the airways, cable, and online. Walking around the three huge convention buildings filled of gadgets and gizmos I noticed something..this is basically the same gadgets and gizmos that have been around the past couple of years. Was there cool stuff?? Oh yea! Was there anything that I thought would be a game changer in the video industry??? Uh…no..not really..and that is not good. This convention has always had someone there that everyone was rushing to see…a few years ago there was the RED camera..a couple of years ago 3D showed it’s ugly head..but this year…nothing…nada….zero…

If the NAB folks are going to turn this convention into content driven…well..not sure they will like the attendance numbers in a few years…cause the technical folks will quit coming…even if it is in Vegas.

Look I know a lot of the issues in our industry and most of them are because of our economy..it stinks…and when the economy stinks the broadcast industry stinks worse cause the first thing to go in a company’s budget is advertising…and advertising drives the bus…so…the circle gets only halfway around..but just seems there are so many content conferences out there I think my over all feeling is this path that NAB may be heading down is not good…

There needs to be a place for innovation…and there needs to be a showplace to see that innovation…and if NAB would rather become a place of content folks because having movie guys come in looks sexier…well maybe there will be another place that pops up that us technical folks can go….only time will tell…well time to get groovin’!!!

Location:Somewhere between Vegas & Texas

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April 1, 2011

Bubba

I know I have been neglectful to this blog, but I do want you to know that I don’t write just to fill space…I write when I feel like I have somethng to say or just get some thoughts out…I will start with a quick weight update…286..I should be further down the path but that is for another blog.
Today I want to talk about how heavy my heart is today as I have lost a special friend. I want to talk to you about Bubba. Greg Gambill has been a friend of mine for over 20 years and he died Tuesday in his home. He leaves behind a great family and friends galore.
To know Bubba is to know a lot of TV production history, WW II history and weather. Yes those were usually the topics he would love discuss with you. All the while letting you know how much he loved each of your opinions on each topic. Course most of the time he thought your opinion was not right but he was glad to see you had an opinion. He was the guy who also had opinion on everything that was going on…even if he had no clue what was going on…he knew exactly what he knew..I know that may sound egotistical but with Bubba you knew that he knew that you knew he had NO idea what he was talking about and would crack that smile like a kid who just swiped a small piece of gum from the candy store.
You could come to the TV truck frustrated at the way the day was going and he could make you smile just to hear him yell something a bit on the blue side…well..ok it was usually a lot on the blue side…but again he would flash that smile and you would be frustrated no more…
My time with Bubba had become time few and far between since I have left the world of the full time freelancer but he was one of the ones I always couldn’t wait to see at the truck when I did make it out to the truck. He would great me with that smile and immediately want to know what was going on in my life…and we would then drift off into a discussion of WW II Pacific battles…or whatever he felt like talking about…and just being around him for a day or two here and there made me happy…
Today starts another season of baseball..a time when we look forward to a new day and new chance to start the season clean. Today though I know there will be some hearts that are looking back to a life of a man who would spread joy, happiness and bit of loving crankiness. A man who was full of life and always had a comment on everything…and wasn’t afraid to tell you…in that oh so Bubba way….
Love you Bubba always…I will miss you Bubba always…time for you to get groovin’…

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January 30, 2011

Drawing The Line

So..yea..it has been a while sorry but that…trying to find my footing in he new year without that foot ending up in my mouth. If you know me then you know that is a HUGE job for me.
So as I sit here I decided it has been a while for the weight update. As of today I am at 290. Which is almost a 70 lbs. loss since the first part of October. So far so good. Man the holiday’s became a struggle unlike anything I have done before. I basically came to the goal of staying within a 10 lbs. range and I made it through that so that was a plus.
While I am excited that I made it this far for me it is a subdued excitement. In October 2009 I was blessed to be in a musical at me church and I was at 292. Up until this week it was the lowest I had been in over 10 years. Then I went a ballooned up to the 357 I started out in October. So as you can tell it has been an interesting year or so.
So now I draw a new line and we push forward to the next goal. Interestingly enough it is a short one since the next one came to my mind the other day while watching what has become called Chris’ Japan Video. This was during the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta and since in the story they make a comment about me being 130 kg…you do the math and that means I was at 286 lbs. So I know not a huge stretch to get there but that would turn the clock to 1996…so that is a good. Reminding myself of the ultimate goal I know I am a bit behind so if I can pull off a couple of nice weeks and get back within range life will be good.
So how are you doing so far at your New Year’s stuff? If you may have slipped it is ok…just get back at it…we fail…we are human…turn it over to God and it will work out! Well time to get groovin’..

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January 8, 2011

Playing with iMovie on iPhone

So I got a new iPhone this week. I started playing around with the iMovie app as me and some friends travel to a game in Arkansas. When wouldn’t you know it. Rusty got pulled over.

http://www.youtube.com/v/Pwpiaborm8g

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Parkway Dr,North Little Rock,United States

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January 3, 2011

Why Memorize?

Top of the morning to everyone…glad you made it through he weekend.
I do want to start this blog off on a bit of a sad point. A friend of mine today is rejoicing, but we his friends and family are grieving. My friend Brent died yesterday suddenly at the age of 40. Brent was a co-worker of mine in the sports freelance world and was a good, hard, and dedicated worker. His smile was infectious and he always had a positive thing to say. I know he is rejoicing today because he is in the arms of Christ. Thanks Brent for your friendship and I can’t wait till we see each other again…
Now to the title subject…I posted on Facebook and Twitter last night that I was going to work at memorizing the entire book of Philippians before Easter. I decided to do this in a spur of the moment thing after reading another blogger’s decision to do it after he read another fellow blogger’s challenge. I had a buddy ask me “on purpose?” and another friend ask “why?”. Why indeed?
I had to step back myself and ask why for me?
John Piper has some great statements why to memorize scripture. In fact his statements are a part of the book you build to help you through the next 16 weeks. Like I said those are great…but still why?
Honestly I have struggled with being in the word for a good part of my life with Christ. I have spent more time out of it than in it. However in the past few years I have spent a bit more time in it and have seen my understanding not only of my life, but more importantly my life as a servant of Christ. Do I still screw up and stumble in my walk? Every day! Am I surrounded by His Grace? Every day! How do I know that? By spending time in His word. So there is one reason for me is to spend more time in His word.
Another reason for me is that I feel like I have needed to take the step of Bible memorization. I have tried in the past and done OK…but not great. I feel like the only scripture I have memorized is John 11:35 “Jesus wept.” I know it is better than that but still I need to step it up. I always have admired the story of basketball player David Robinson. It has been said he spent a lot of time memorizing scripture so that when he signed an autograph he could add a verse address that came to his mind in hopes that the person could be inspired to read it. Don’t know if it is true but makes a good story and a good idea.
Today starts a new time at Christ Chapel where I not only work but where I have attended for the past 15 years. We started the 3rd year of reading through the scriptures. The first year we read the New Testament…last year the 1st half of the Old Testament..today we started the 2nd half. So wouldn’t you know it today while reading the day 1′s reading of Psalms 111 I found another reason.
Psalms 111:10 ESV “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!”
Now this brings up a interesting point…fear of the LORD. Do you fear the LORD? My guess is most of you say…uh no. I totally understand. This time last year I said the same the thing. I didn’t think you still needed to be in fear of the LORD. But then I went through a depression and the way out of it was understanding that I feared man way more than I feared God. In fact I have spent my whole life with the fear of what others thought of me and how I was stacking up in comparison to others. I realized that the mask I had put on my whole life of not caring what others thought of me was cracked and falling apart, and what I really should focus on is fearing what God thought of me.
Of course when I did start focusing on this fear I also realized that no matter how I messed up, no matter what I have done in the past He still loves me. So the fear that I now have is not being on the path that He wants me on…and the only way to know where He wants me is from reading His word and understanding it.
So to sum up this rather lengthy post…of why? Because I know that in my study of His word and by memorizing His word I will come to understand more and more why He loves me, why His Son died for me, and how and where I can best serve Him.  Hope that helps…
His praise endures forever!
Time to get groovin’

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January 1, 2011

So Here We Are 2011

Happy New Year to you!
Now that we have started the year off with a bang! I hope you had a safe NYE. I spent mine at the Big D NYE in downtown Dallas running camera. I always have fun when I do a freelance gig because I get to see friends I don’t see on a regular basis.
I spent many years as a freelance camera guy and it was a blast. I got to travel around the country and cover some awesome sporting events for ESPN, ABC, CBS…basically I tell folks I worked for all the alphabet networks at one point sometime. Those were fun but not as much as the people were. We had a lot of good times on the road and also when I worked all the events in the DFW area, so it is always good to hang out with those guys. Sometimes humbling cause they remind me how long I have been out of the mix and last night they reminded me often…good ribbing…ugh
It was very cool to see the amount of people that came out last night…I mean there were Like 35-45,000 folks welcoming in the year. I know it is not NYC numbers but for the fourth year to have this shindig not bad at all…
Now as we start the new year I decided I would join the challenge on WordPress.com of posting a blog at least once a week. They have one going for a once a day but I know me and I will lose track of time and forget to post…so once a week…yea more doable.
So this blog is just to throw out there and state my challenge out there. Have a great day!

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December 28, 2010

Same Ol’, Same Ol’ Resolutions?

So anyway…as I wrote yesterday this has been an interesting year. I have written about some of the struggles…but now that I got that out of my system….what about the new year????  What am I going to really focus on in the new year???

Well I have to be honest…I hate the new year stuff….resolutions are such a beat down….we all attempt to make ourselves better and do this or that….but seriously…how many of your resolutions this year are the same ones you had last year??  I know I have a couple…I need to lose weight…(DUH!)…I am going to continue in growing closer to God…(that could also be a DUH unless you don’t believe in God…but I do…so DUH!)…I think we all want to be a better spouse and a better parent…I mean think about it if your resolution was to be a bad parent…and really try to tick off your spouse…you may need more than resolutions in your life…(see the one about closer to God…just sayin’)

So now that I got the obvious ones out of the way what does that leave??  I honestly don’t know….I do want to do all those things…so…if I just focus on those might that be easier than having a 10-15 list of things to improve..but I have a suggetion…for myself…(and you can listen in…)

Work on the one about God…cause I think…if I work on my relationship with the Creator and not the creation….then the rest of my resolutions would fall into place.  In fact I dare say that if I continue to be a better follower of His word and His direction I might even get some resolutions that I hadn’t counted on…so what could be some growing closer resolutions??

1. Prayer

I do know that I plan on being more committed to prayer…and more importantly committed to praying for others…how often do you tell friends I will pray for you??  I do a lot…but when the time comes…how often do you go back and follow through…sometimes I have struggled with what/how to pray for others…I suggest taking a look at Paul’s letter to the Colossians. Paul is great with bringing down to my level of focus.  In Colossians 1:9-14 he ives us a step-by-step guide how to pray for others. It is awesome…give it a shot.

2. Worship

Oh boy…is this a tough one…why?  Simple I work at a church…yea I know it sounds strange that a person who on staff at a church and he struggles with Worship.  Well I am a behind the scenes guy…and when the folks are here to Worship…what am I doing??  Working to make it a good experience for them.  I will give you an example…my kids were recently baptized and I sat with my wife in the Sanctuary and we watched them get dunked then we were joined by the kids during the Worship time once they dried off and we listened to a great message.  Now that may sound normal to you but my wife and I realized that it was the first time we Worshiped as a family in 4 years.  Nice Spiritual leading by me…ugh…but I can’t worry about the past I can only work better at the future…so I will step out of the control room and Worship more with my family this year.

3. Quiet time

This one up until about late October would not have been on the official list. I have been very good at working my way through the Bible for the past 2 years as CCBC is going through the Bible in 3 years.  Well for some reason I got out of the habit…and now I struggle just doing the study I need to to prepare for the small group I am leading.  So I will re-aim and get back at having my Bible…and my coffee and start the day by listen and reading His word!

Ok so there are 3 good resolutions to have…at least those are mine…like I said earlier if we all make a resolution to focus more on the Creator this year than on creation….I know that the other resolutions that we all think are important will seem unimportant or take care of themselves in a year….

How about you?  What are you resoluting this year? Let me know….

Well time to get groovin’

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December 27, 2010

End Of Year Quick Thoughts

So how was your Christmas? Mine was really nice but seemed to go fast…it was like 6pm before I knew it. Whew…why as we get older things just go faster? I am sure there has been a study on this weird thing but still….just drives me crazy…
So anyway…here I sit taking it easy and feeling like another year has gone by and man did it fly..I have to admit it has been an interesting year. I am glad I had the struggles I had because I do think that how we handle the downs in our life makes us better. Life is great when times are up and everything is good…but seriously..life is a roller coaster. Taking us up and down and sometimes throwing us into loops and making us feel sick but at the end of the ride we survived.
I know that this year has been one of the toughest…maybe since my dad died..but I also know that I have come out on the other side with a better understanding of what makes me tick. I know that a) I am not as bad as I thought but b) I still have a lot of work to do to be a better husband and better father.
Also my weight has at least stabilized during this Christmas season. I have not lost much but I have basically kept it to a reasonable number…now I can reload and get moving on more loss…to date the amount is 50 lbs lost since I started. I am almost under 300 and that will be the first goal of 2011. The next is to get it under 290…sounds strange I know but I have a wall at that spot since when I in Music Man last year that was where I was so…there you go…I will keep you updated…but really don’t want this to drive the bus of this blog…
So as we start the new year I pray you have a good one…I will be around to throw in my silliness and deep thoughts….OK not that deep but who knows what the year will hold. I do know I will let God lead a lot better that I have in the past and we will let it go from there. I do also know I actually like doing this blog thing even though I know I am late to the blog dance…and hopefully I will do a better job of being a bit more consistent in posting. Well…time to get groovin’…Happy New Year!

Location:Aledo,United States

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