Look beyond the surface.

I took one of the cars in for what we all thought would be a new set of struts. Surprise, surprise. Even after having a pre-appointment diagnosis, my mechanic found more wrong after some disassembly time. The bottom line is an extra day of repairs and some fun scrambling to get home tonight. (It’s not exactly around the corner from our Crossroads offices!) It’ll all work out OK, thanks to my wife, Betty Jo, and her great attitude. After all, with the MSU/UofM basketball game on tonight, we’re determined to cheer on the Spartans together!

This car is a bit like our current sermon series, “It Came From Within.” Sometimes there’s a disconnect in us between what is seen/heard and what lies below the surface.  Check the weekly podcast on our website or catch the foundation from Andy Stanley.

Leaving a footprint.

Tom Izzo and the MSU Spartans men’s basketball team have us pretty pumped this week. First, it was a dismantling of  Number 1 ranked Wisconsin, followed by a convincing 2nd half come-from-behind victory over Indiana. Are they invited to the big dance? We’ll know March 11. I say they’ve already earned that opportunity!

An emotional Izzo caught my attention after the Wisconsin victory as he gave us an insider’s peek of his before game challenge.  He told the players that every team leaves a footprint and challenged them to think about the kind of footprint they were going to leave at MSU. Junior guard Drew Neitzel caught the vision in that challenge: “This is unbelievable,” Neitzel said after working his way through the crowd and heading to a postgame press conference. “It is a chance for us to leave our legacy and our footprints on the program.”

Michigan State had not beaten a top-ranked team since Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson led the Spartans past Larry Bird and Indiana State in the 1979 national championship game so I appreciate that it was a special night. I cheered, yelled, and screamed with half the state. (Can you tell I love college basketball?)

But this footprint thing. That’s something to wrestle with, to seriously consider.

Given: everyone of us is leaving a footprint.

Given: once we leave a footprint we can’t go back and change it.

Given: we can and will influence the footprints on ahead.

So I say, forget about the old footprints. Stare at them too long and you’ll probably trip and fall anyway. Pay attention to the footprints today. Do you like them? Are you proud of them? Are they making the kind of impact you want to make? Think about your next footprints. Who are you influencing? Where are you impacting? What legacy are you creating?

I’m glad I made it to Crossroads 2.25.07

The weather was lousy and the roads were even worse yesterday. On our trip in to Crossroads Community Church, we encountered water-covered icy roads, black ice producing freezing fog, rain, freezing rain, and thankfully, almost no other cars. My lovely passenger observed that the lack of traffic might be because all the intelligent people knew better and were staying home. Well, I admit I’m more of the press on regardless kind of winter driver, but the Liberty’s 4 wheel drive action and holdin to 35 mph never gave me a second thought about turning back. Of course, I never took my hands off the wheel either so the coffee mug simply sat and got cold.

What particularly pleased me about being at Crossroads was the chance I had to welcome a new student into our 3rd – 5th grade boys small group in Kid Crossing. But that’s only half the story. He came at the invitation of one of our regulars – Raymond – who’s pretty good friends with him at school. Cool. Two wins in one day: one of our small group guys “gets it” about inviting friends, and one of his friends comes!

Well, actually 3 wins. I almost forgot that our small group set a new world’s record in trashcan basketball: 13 points! Way to go guys! “Nothing but the bottom of the trash can” as Dickie V might say.