Risk

“Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage

to lose sight of the shore.” -Andre Gide

I recently blogged about a new season in my life. My move across states to a different line of work is perhaps considered risking business. I leaving behind a full-time job with benefits, and relying on my own entrepreneurial endeavors, becoming self-employed with all of its challenges. A bit of a gamble some might say. What if I fail? Crash and burn? With all those little mouths to feed and such?

“Yes, risk taking is inherently failure-prone. Otherwise, it would be

called sure-thing-taking.” -Jim McMahon

Risk is necessary if growth is desired. I am stepping out in faith, and it’s something that I feel I have been building towards for some time now. The challenge and opportunity present is what God has been leading me to undertake. This God element makes it a no-brainier, because if it is from Him, no one can stop it. Companies that don’t ever take any risks often are the very ones that fail. Can the same be said of people? Has God ever been known to ask people to step out in faith?

“Take calculated risks. That is quite different from

being rash.” -General George S. Patton

As doors and opportunities present themselves and we’ve suppressed our imagined fears and acted, we’ve seen a confirmation of sorts in how smoothly and easily things are falling into place. For instance, one of the biggest areas that I would worry about was the selling of our house, in this economy. I’ve seen houses sit on the market forever, some on our street, even! In two weeks, ours sold! I half expected to move in with my parents with our four kids and be cramped for a couple of months to avoid two payments anywhere, but the house is under contract.

So now where to live? We found a great house with just about everything we wanted and are under contract already. We’ll have a lot more space then we do currently, and be paying a lot less for it too! Here’s the kicker. We’re able to stay in our house for a few days after the buyer closes, so we can be present at church the last Sunday of the month, and we can move into the new place a few days before we close on it. That could not be more perfect.

One more occurrence worth noting is that two weeks before leaving my current ministry, we have a candidate in town visiting and interviewing and trying out for my position. He claims that this vacancy that I created and the fact that our church approached him directly is an answer to his prayers for guidance in his life. God works in interesting and mysterious ways, especially when there’s an element of risky faith involved.

I enjoy the game of Texas Hold ‘Em. It’s a great game because when the timing is right, after weighing all of the options, factoring in odds and probabilities and a number of other variables, there comes a point where you have to simply put all of the chips in the middle. This ALL IN  is a frightening moment, but when done right, the payoff is huge. This is kind of how I feel right now.

How about you? Is there anything you’ve put off for far too long because of the risk involved? What are you going to do?

Home Videos Don’t Have to be Boring

Growing up, my mom was pretty good about making home movies. She even at times would do some edits and overdub music, and the hard way, before non-linear computer editing. We enjoyed watching them. Living on the mission field, I guess it was the thing to do when family would come to visit, so they could catch up on the last 4 years of our life.

Home videos are typically known for being boring and long. But they don’t have to be. Here’s a little keepsake video edit I did of our recent camping trip we took with some friends. A little creativity, music, and shot selection and editing can capture memories in a fun way forever:

Lawn Mowing – a parable on the creative process

Today, I had an idea. The idea was to get my lawn mowed.

The grass was getting tall, and my wife’s patience was probably beginning to wane. After all, it is my job to keep up on the lawn.

I don’t really like mowing, per se. I do enjoy having a beautiful lawn that the kids can enjoy and that is attractive to all. I love having a lawn. I’m glad that I’m a homeowner with a lawn- some don’t have that. But I do. It’s perfect for cookouts and relaxing or playing. When it’s mowed, it’s a real benefit.

But back to the issue at hand. It needed to be mowed. Well, it was time for it. I had put it off long enough. I had the time to do it. You know, I could pay someone to do it. There are a lot of other people that could really do a better job at it. But, this is my lawn. If I pay someone else, I won’t have the satisfaction of having done it myself. I need to take pride in my lawn. It may not win any awards, like best lawn in the neighborhood, but that’s OK. I need to take care of my own lawn. And right now it needed mowed.

It’s kind of cold today. It’s a lot colder than when I usually mow. That’s just an excuse to put it off, so I put on long sleeves, shorts, and mowing shoes. Alright, I’m committed to doing this, and seeing it through to the end.

I got the key to the shed, opened it up, and started moving the mess of bikes out of the way. When one pedal got stuck in the spokes of another bike, I almost got mad trying to get it out! Finally, I got the mower out of the little, and granted, unorganized shed.

That mower. How long have I had it? It’s pretty old. I can’t stand this thing. But it’s a necessity for having my lawn mowed.

Do I start in the back yard or the front yard today? The front yard’s a piece of cake. I can do that in no time. It’s the back yard that is my kryptonite. I don’t by any means have a big yard. It’s a decent size. But to someone who, isn’t really outdoorsy, who doesn’t care for mowing, it’s a huge task! Today, I decided to save the front for last. Tackle the more difficult part early and save the easy part for the homestretch. If the front’s really bad, I usually start there.

With all in place, I tried starting that old mower. No luck. I tried again. I’m not giving up that easily. No dice. I know a few tricks on this thing. If I take it around to the front, on the driveway, it should start right up…. nope.  Not today. What a piece of junk! Let’s see, it has oil, gas. I unplug and plug the spark plug back in. I turn it on its side, move the blade with my shoe. Pull hard, lifting it up a little. None of my tricks are working today! All is in place, but the engine is not firing up. Only for a second or two. The cord’s not even going back like it should.

Now I’m ready to give up. I’ve hit a huge obstacle before I’ve even begun. I really should upgrade my equipment. I could put this out on the curb and give it away for free to some sorry fool who would then have to put up with it. If I had one of those mowers that is motorized and takes less effort, I’d mow more often. If I had a riding mower, I could mow the whole neighborhood! But I don’t. I’ve only got this old junky mower. It’s cracked cage is lop-sided and looks like the mower’s grinning at me- mocking me even.

I’m not going to let this beat me. I set out to mow the lawn. I will have a finished lawn, if it’s the last thing I do. One more time, I gripped the bent handle as hard as I could and pulled that cord something fierce, all the while lifting the front wheels. It started up!

I’m in business now, to the back yard I go. Now what do to? Sometimes I mow in rows, sometimes triangles. I suppose some of you are like me. Have to switch it up now and then. Keep things interesting. Maybe some have a set way of mowing. A process from which they never deviate. Well, today I chose to work my way all around the edge and then back. I suppose I’m making a game out of it, or maybe I’m trying to figure which way is best, but I never have timed myself or anything.

Aw, man. The mower quit on me. In the really thick stuff, I even went slower. If I could tell it was about to die on me, I’d lift up on the handle. But it happened. And pretty quickly. I’m just getting started and already after a slow start, now I’m ready to throw in the towel again. My equipment for mowing has become unresponsive, but the good thing is that I am able to restart it. This happened a couple times actually, but once I got past the worst part it was smooth sailing.

In the end, I was able to finish. I executed my plan. Now I have a beautiful lawn again, because I did the work. Well, I mowed. Weed-eating…that’s another story.

THE END.

It’s probably pretty obvious, but did you figure out all of the symbolism here????