By about 4:30, I left the hospital and arrived home. Then, I rested for about two-and-half hours in my bed.

Currently, I feel like someone hit me with a baseball bat multiple times in my back, crushing my spine. But for whatever reason, I haven’t taken any pain medication yet.

They told me that walking would help, so I’m interspersing my delicious vegetable soup dinner from friends Jeremy and Francis, with forcing myself to walk laps around our staircase in between bites. There’s a chance this might be the most pain I’ve ever felt in my entire life, so, I’m shuffling around in circles, feeling progressively less like passing out, Good times.

To all my friends who’ve lifted me up in prayer and encouraged me through this week and this day, I’m especially grateful. Thank you for loving me.

The thing I am most certain of is that my heart is at peace with whichever outcome takes place today, and I feel a certain bit of enjoyment in being in a place with several relatively clear possibilities for my future. It’s something that seems to be rare in this life.

Father, thank you for the great gifts you’ve placed into my life: My wife is my dearest friend, full of kindness and love; my children are a joy to me, and that joy continues to expand with each passing day; my extended family is fun to be around, and abnormally fantastic; my friends are world-class – I’m fortunate to have an abundance of meaningful relationships that add untold encouragement and enjoyment; the job of my dreams that stretches me to grow and learn every day while working with an amazing group of people. I am blessed and grateful. This is a life I never imagined I would get to live.

My life is not perfect, and it has its share of challenges, but I am grateful for it.

I never would have guessed that I would say this, especially at this age, but I’m scheduled for L5/S1 back surgery on February 2nd. The procedure is called a discectomy, and it involves removing part of a herniated disc that is pressing on my spinal cord and causing pain down my right leg. If you’re into such things, you can click my MRI image above for an image with notes.

Fortunately, my mom and dad will be flying to Knoxville the night before to stay with us for a few days while I recuperate.

My neurosurgeon has given me an 80% chance of successful surgery, meaning that there is a 4 in 5 chance that the surgery will dissipate or resolve the pain I’m experiencing.

Honestly, I feel quite at peace about the whole thing and no real anxiety about the procedure, but your prayers are appreciated.

Tomorrow, January 9th, marks thirteen years of marriage between Keri and I.  It also marks nearly three months since these two little guys pictured above joined our family and turned our household of four into a party of six. They’re seriously cute when they’re not hungry.

Without question, these past few weeks have been some of the most challenging days of my life. The lack of sleep, the attempts at meeting the conflicting needs of both the older and younger kids, new and challenging work in the office, and major back pain that has forced me to give up sitting in a chair for more than a few minutes at a time.  It’s been exhausting and painful but also wonderful and delightful.  It’s been my biggest challenge as well as my greatest joy.

To my dearest wife, who puts up with my crazy mood swings, insatiable desire for neatness, and quickly graying hair: You’re one of the kindest people I’ve ever met. What would I ever do without you? I’m a shell of a man without your love and friendship. Let’s run away together (in about five years).

Here’s to lucky number 13. Praying it’s the best year yet!

For over year now, I’ve been in a mentoring relationship with a young man named Anthony. What started out as a partnership through Kid’s Hope (a school-based ministry that meets one hour per week), has now also become an outside-school relationship through Big Brothers International.

Unlike some kids in these programs, when I first started meeting with Anthony, his parents were married, very supportive of his education, and very involved parents. Honestly, there were many times when I wondered in which particular way I would have a positive influence on him since he is already an exceptional student, is socially outgoing, and is very kind and considerate.

The term brother, is really quite fitting, since that is the type of relationship we have.* I am his buddy: a friend who’s there to hang out, play games, and have fun. But until last month, I truly couldn’t imagine the divine potential our relationship could have until Anthony’s mother died unexpectedly of a heart attack.

The photo above was taken on Christmas Day, after sharing a lunch together with Anthony and his dad.

So I write this post for those of you out there who would consider stepping out of your comfort zone to enter into a mentoring relationship. Even if you feel that your time is limited and you question what it is you have to offer, I would encourage you to take a leap of faith, and see what God has in store.

* But maybe not little, since he’s only eight years old and nearly as big as me.

And so it begins with this young man.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The other day, in the middle of mowing my front yard, my lawn mower of nearly a decade decided to give up the ghost. It was a sad thing to behold, and it left me using the weed eater to “fade” the hard edges so that the divide between newly mowed and uncut would be less apparent until I found a suitable replacement.

That evening, as I was talking to my brother-in-law, Taylor, who is a landscape/hardscape professional, he suggested that I might consider purchasing a reel mower – you know, the old-school kind that doesn’t have a motor. He said that it would save me from having to buy gasoline and that it was also a great way to get a little exercise. The idea was intriguing to me, and by the end of the night, I was determined to give a reel mower a try.

WEEK ONE: THE SHAME

A couple of days later I made the purchase, brought home the small box, and quickly assembled the pieces in front of my garage. Never again would I need to buy gasoline before mowing the grass.  To be quite honest, I felt a little bit of pride for purchasing such an earth-friendly alternative to the normal powered lawn mower. Perhaps I would start a new trend in our neighborhood.

That pride only lasted a couple of minutes.

What happened next was a swirl of emotions, mostly shame. Handlebars positioned about two feet too low, pushing a strange small object. The feeling was similar to pushing along a child-sized vacuum cleaner through the grass. Humbling stuff.

And it didn’t help that neighbors were taking notice of me. Cars were slowing down to look as they passed by, and my next door neighbors came out to mention how “cool and eco-friendly” the mower was.

By this point I was seriously annoyed with myself about the purchase.  It didn’t seem that it was working very well, and I needed to mow every inch of the grass multiple times. Why else had I never seen anybody use a reel mower before? It wasn’t just that the idea never came to mind, but like the typewriter, it was an antiquated and obsolete device.

And as for exercise, I’d have to say that I was disappointed. The effort was roughly equivalent to a slow walk around the neighborhood.

Thinking back to my purchasing experience, the placement of the mower box in the store should have tipped me off. It was located on a shelf about eight feet off the ground and had a layer of dust on top of the box. Now, I would have to relive my poor decision each week as I awkwardly trudged back and forth across my lawn.

WEEK TWO: ADJUSTING

Once I gave up the idea of returning the mower to the store or pitching it in the dumpster, the second week of mowing was a drastically improved experience. Before I started, I lowered the blades, and that seemed to help with the problem of having to mow the same spot multiple times. That change also helped me to see why people would describe the process as a workout.  But my favorite part was the quiet sound of the mower blades instead of an engine, so listening to music while mowing was especially enjoyable. And overall, I think the mower produced a nicely-even lawn.

FINAL THOUGHTS (FOR NOW)

You could end up with the best looking lawn on the block, but purchasing a reel mower is probably best reserved for people who don’t mind feeling (and looking) a little foolish. Be forewarned.

Oh, and wear long pants, not shorts, when mowing or else your shoes will be full of clippings. Trust me.