I’d like to share another song with you that I wrote. It is a tribute to my parents called, “Cashing in on a Dream.”

Many of you know about my mom’s battle with cancer.

Several years back she was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. She went through an initial round of treatment only to have the cancer come back a couple of year’s later. Another, more intense round of treatment was then necessary, one that very nearly took her life.

Miraculously she pulled out of that season and was officially deemed “in remission.” 

Throughout this battle my parents had put on hold many of their dreams to focus on helping my mom get better. One of those dreams was to take a river cruise with their good friends through Europe. With the remission declaration they felt confident to go ahead and book that trip, so they did.

Unfortunately, not long after, the cancer returned – for a third time. So, they canceled the trip.

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Hi friends! I decided to take my own advice from my post last week and do something I’ve never done – share a song I’ve written publicly

This song is called “Glow.” It was written a little over a year ago with my friends Kelly Hughton and Todd Williams and was inspired by an awesome post by my wife Kim McIntyre. In fact I stole a bunch of the words from the post It speaks to the truth of everyone’s voice mattering.

It’s a super rough recording made on my iPhone but I think it still gets the point across.

Warning, there is an expletive in the chorus if you’re sensitive to that sort of thing. Sometimes I think there’s only one way to say things.

I hope you’re encouraged by “Glow.”

I haven’t posted anything online in quite some time. I think big reason for that is I’ve been asking myself, “does my voice matter?”

There was a time where I could fairly confidently answer that question. Yes, I did believe that my voice mattered. But as I look at the larger landscape, especially in social media, where so many of us attempt to make our thoughts heard, I see an ocean of voices, many shouting angerly at each other and many others grasping for attention and looking for approval, and I think, “I don’t want to add to that noise.”

I realize that could sound pompous and judgmental. I know there are lots of good people out there on the interwebs doing their best to try and shine their light and put a little positivity into the world. And if I take an honest look, I realize I’ve been guilty at times of doing the very things I criticize.

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A couple of weeks ago I was finishing a two-week work trip in Hawaii. My last day there I was on the Big Island. I had the afternoon off after a morning college fair and needed to decide how I wanted to spend my last hours in Hawaii.

After a long two weeks of working hard, I wanted to do something that would be both relaxing and restorative.

I have to be honest here. I can get caught up trying to make an experience as epic as possible or get stuck wondering if there is something better I could be doing at any given moment. That seems to be magnified when I’m in my last moments in a beautiful place like Hawaii. My mind goes to “what can I do to do make this as amazing as possible.” That can lead to not being able to actually enjoy the moments I’m in.

That was the state of my mind as I planned my last day. It sounds crazy but I was honestly a little stressed about it.

There were a couple of options that sounded good.

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I’m really lucky and get to travel to Hawaii for work a couple of times a year. In my free time on those trips, I try to find opportunities to indulge in one of my favorite hobbies – surfing.

One of my favorite spots to surf in Hawaii is a break off Waikiki Beach on Oahu called “Canoes.” It is crowded and filled with tourists and is named “Canoes” because of the outrigger canoes that often surf the waves there right next to the people on regular surfboards. I’ve had to dodge more than a few of those canoes in my time in the water there.

It is a bit of a crazy scene but there is also something special about it. The warm, crystal-clear water, the gentle breeze, the long, easy-to-ride waves and Diamond Head watching over it all in the background. It’s really a classic Hawaii setting.

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For as long as I can remember, I have loved music. Some of my earliest memories involve singing along to my favorite tapes (yes tapes) and using a tennis racket as a pretend guitar. I could seriously rock back then!

Very early, that love developed into a dream to play in a band myself someday. Specifically, I wanted to play guitar and sing in a band.

As my musical “career” developed, I played lots of music – concert band in middle school, high school and college, jazz band in high school in college. I even took guitar lessons. I also learned how to play drums and played on worship teams at my church, which I still do.

I also did many things to be around music. I ran sound at church and for some friend’s bands. I even did an internship at a music management and marketing company where I helped book shows for bands and assisted in their business management.

All of that helped me improve as a musician, taught me some important lessons and gave me valuable experience.

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They say most people give up on their New Year’s resolutions by the end of January. In fact, according to a recent USA Today article about 60% of resolutions are abandoned by January 17 each year.

 As I sit here in March, just under two months after that date, I reflect on a resolution or goal that I once had – to write a blog.

Unlike many other goals I’ve had in my life, that was one that I actually kept, for over two years. During that time I posted almost twice a month. It wasn’t always easy but I kept at it and it was really rewarding.

I had every intention to keep up the momentum and write even more. Then life caught up to me and I stopped, for over a year.

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It’s about 15 minutes until show time. My band mates and I are in the bathroom putting the final touches on our stylish hairdos. We’re nervous but excited. This is our big chance to show off our talent, to demonstrate to the world what we’re made of. Maybe this will be our big break, our next stop stardom!

As we head towards the stage, we can hear the crowd rustling around with anticipation. We can hardly contain our anticipation.

At last, it is our turn. Our name is announced over the PA and the curtain opens. The crowd roars and music blares through the speakers.

We play our hearts out for four of the most exhilarating minutes or lives, dancing around the stage like maniacs while the crowd cheers like crazy.

Then, as quickly it started it’s over and we head back stage feeling like we’ve conquered the world. In our minds we had. Continue reading →

This past July, like most years, my family spent a week at the Oregon Coast. It is an annual tradition that we all look forward to very much.

Vacations are supposed to be relaxing and rejuvenating and for the most part this one was. However, at times, I was distracted and drug down by some situations that had been a discouragement to me over the last few months.

I desperately wanted to let go of the distractions and be in those precious vacation moments instead of stressing out. But, despite my efforts, it was proving pretty difficult.

One morning I was sitting outside, looking at the ocean, as I do many days, and feeling particularly discouraged. I started praying and asking (actually, it was more like begging) god to give me clarity and lift the feelings of worry and burden from my shoulders. Continue reading →

For the past couple of years I’ve set goals at the beginning of each year as a way to challenge myself, improve in certain areas and generally live more inspired.

While I’ve set some inspiring and challenging goals in the past, this year I set a particularly audacious one – at least for me – to do a triathlon.

As I’ve set and worked toward more goals I’ve discovered that physical challenges are particularly powerful.

I think it’s because pushing ourselves physically requires tapping into many other key areas – mental, spiritual, etc. As we become stronger and physically healthier we are able to excel in other areas of life because we feel better, we have more stamina, etc.

The physical really affects everything.

Last year my physical goal was to run two half-marathons. It was a fine goal except I don’t think it challenged me enough. I know that could sound crazy or even pretentious.

Of course running over 13 miles is physically challenging, but I’d already done it a few times so it wasn’t new. It didn’t require anything additional from me so I don’t think it propelled me forward as much as a more demanding goal may have. Continue reading →