My Starfish

There once was an old man who walked out to the beach after a storm. He watched as the waves crashed on the mostly deserted beach and listened as the gulls flew overhead. He noticed that the storm had driven thousands of starfish onto the beach and there, in the midst of them, was a young boy, who reached down, grabbed a starfish, and placed it back into the water.

He continued watching this curiosity for another twenty minutes, then decided to walk over and talk to the boy.

“Boy, what are you doing?” he said.

Explanation for my absence…

So, it’s nothing new for me not to post during the weekend. Saturday’s I really don’t have an excuse other then just lazy I guess. Sunday’s however, I am truly engaged for more then 13 hours doing youth ministry stuff at my church and just don’t really have the time. Ok, fine, I probably do, but it’s just hard and I’m lazy. So..

However, this last week I was quiet for the first three days and as of this post, I have posted 3 things today alone.

So, why so quiet?

Well…..

In a nutshell, I probably should be dead.

The Thing about Trees…

On my drive to and from work, I pass the western edge of a
fresh water marsh known as the Savannah’s. A few month’s back (ok, on second thought, about a year and a half ago), they did a controlled burn in the area to get rid of the underlying foliage that keeps the swamp from turning into a raging fire if ever something happens that.. well.. um.. you know.. starts fires. (Hrm. Yeah, not re-writing that.)

Count Your Blessings, Day.. um.. 17

Been a quite some time since I have written one of my CYB posts. It’s not that I’m not thankful for anything, just been very preoccupied by some other thoughts, namely, working out a scene that kept playing over in my head. I finally finished it. Not totally sure I am happy with the way it wrapped up because I am feeling like I pushed it to be done.

But, I will say, something that I am incredibly thankful for is writing. My dad gave me a really awesome compliment a few weeks ago, and that has kind of stuck with me over the last few days, pushing me to be write more. My wife has been pretty excited to see me start heading into the creative realm of my writing again. A lot of that started with my taking up this blog.

As a kid, I use to have a bunch of ideas about stories and I was always afraid to share them. Never felt I was good enough, never felt that my stories had any merit. So I wrote them for myself and a select few who I would let read them. I still struggle with that today, usually about my blog, saying something about something I wrote, then immediately following it up with, ‘not that you need to read it’ as a way of saying I won’t be hurt if you haven’t.

It’s funny, I say that, but the truth is, I really do want people to read my stuff. Why else would I write it? I want them to be entertained, I want them to be provoked to deeper thought, I want them to tell me that they enjoyed it. That’s ok, right? Not prideful? (seriously, something I struggle with that I am working on).

But, anyway, I hope you enjoy reading what I write. I hope you leave comments or like the posts. But most of all, I hope you keep coming back.

Cause, I guess, what I really am thankful for is you, for giving me your time.
(And your obvious awesome taste in literature).

Count Your Blessings, Day 16

Class of 2014

 

Over the weekend, several of the students I have gotten to know over the last few years graduated. They finished the long journey toward their High School Diploma’s, and achieved a pretty awesome goal. I just wanted to take a few moments to honor their hard work, to let them know I was proud of their accomplishment, and to let them know that.. well.. this is just the beginning.

I saw their photos posted on Facebook, attended a party, distributed what has become known as ‘The Standard Gift from Todd”, and got to celebrate with them.

So, to you.. Class of 2014, I say…

Congratulations!

 

Now,

 

Go out and conquer the world!