Another nearly PERFECT Super Bowl prediction!

Two years in a row I have aced my annual Super Bowl prediction. I don’t just predict winners and losers, but I love to predict key game moments and big events that will change how the game turns out. We’re talking about uncanny accuracy. (You can read last year’s prediction here.) I won’t bore you with all the details but here are the highlights.

1. The Patriots will score the first and last TDs of the game.
2. Unlike last year’s blowout, this game will be decided by four points or less. The Patriots will win.
3. Marshawn Lynch will score one rushing TD for the Seahawks.
4. The Seahawks will have one surprise touchdown in the first half, probably near the end of the 2nd quarter.
5. Tom Brady will throw two pics, yet will be MVP.
6. Seahawks wide receiver, Kearse, will have at least one big play, maybe even a circus-type catch.
7. Russell Wilson will throw a big interception late in the game.
8. A no-name rookie will decide who wins the Super Bowl.
9. The Seattle coaching staff will make a horrible decision, late in the game, while under pressure.
10. Bill Belichick, Patriots coach, will wear a sweatshirt.

If you want to read my full prediction, please click here. Seriously, do you know anybody else that called this game with such detail? I’m assuming someone from Vegas will be calling me shortly.

For those of you interested in these things, I’ll give you a little tip on making great predictions like mine. Pay attention, and you’ll do well in your future prognostications, too. Here’s my secret: wait until after the game is over, and then make your prediction.

It’s that simple! Seriously, it works great on sporting events (obviously!), but this method can be used for predicting the outcomes of elections, major world events and even how your child will score on a test at school. Once you get good, you’ll find your accuracy approaching 100% before long. Unfortunately, this method won’t help you with things before they happen; I’m still working on that.

Have you ever wanted to know how something would turn out before it happened? Have you ever wondered if a certain relationship would work out, if a business would take off, if a relative would survive cancer or if your child would make it through the teen years without doing something too regrettable? I’m not sure if we want to know these things because we think it could be easier to handle the reality knowing it ahead of time, or if because we think we could change the outcome if we knew before hand. Reality is, we don’t get to know, and like yesterday’s football game, the outcome can change dramatically, multiple times, before the dust finally settles.

Thankfully, God knows the future with 100% accuracy. As many of you know, two and half weeks ago my relationship to Lake Ann Camp came to a screeching halt. Traci and I had anticipated spending the next several years working here, connecting with pastors, campers and camp supporters while investing in the next generation of church leaders. Our dreams included years of ministry partnership with the camp and in one afternoon, everything changed.

Over that past couple of weeks we have really wrestled with God’s working in all of this, and have repeatedly wondered what He is up to. We’ve also come to this conclusion: had we known that we were going to be released from our duties after just 22 months of service, we probably never would have taken the job. It's doubtful that we would have  moved our family across the country from Oregon to northern Michigan.

Yet, without question, I can tell you we are glad we came! We are thankful for the relationships that have been built, thankful for the ministry God allowed us to be a part of, and yes, even thankful for the process we are going thru now. We know that whatever God has in store for us next, the past 22 months will play a big part in our future. In other words, if we hadn’t made the move out here 22 months ago, we would miss out on the future plans God has next.

Soon, we’ll be able to look back and see, at least in-part, how God is using our present circumstances to prepare us for a future He already knows. In the mean time, our task is to keep trusting Him and to work on growing thru this experience. We’re working through the heartache of loss, the challenges of watching our children unpack their hurt, and the difficulty of facing some serious uncertainty about the next four weeks. (Where will we live? What will I do for a job? Will our kids be able to stay in school? Are we moving across town? Across the state? Back across the country?)

While wrestling with these unknown circumstances, I came across Psalm 143:8, “Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life.” (NIV) I love how The Message paraphrases this: “If you wake me each morning with the sound of your loving voice, I’ll go to sleep each night trusting in you. Point out the road I must travel; I’m all ears, all eyes before you.”

I don’t know what’s next for me and my family. What I do know, is that God knows, and He loves us deeply and has a plan that will redeem everything we’re walking thru now. That plan is truly the best, and when the time comes that I can look back and a make a near-perfect Super Bowl-esque prediction, I’ll be glad we followed Him.

How about you? Are you facing some uncertainty in your life? Are you on a path that doesn’t make sense to you right now? Maybe you need to make Psalm 143:8 your prayer, too, and trust in the love of God, while you wait for the timing of God. I’ll be right there with you and soon we’ll both have a great story to tell!

Go ahead and take the plunge, the future is always better out on the water!

A Little Perspective, Please.

A week before we moved to Michigan, we began the process of getting internet connected at our camp house. Three and a half weeks later, we’re still without internet, although the promise of digital goodness is just a day or two away (so they tell us for the fourth time!). It’s amazing how much our family has missed our internet connection. Every day Celina asks us something that requires the answer, “No honey, that app needs internet.” Each of us has had a moment on an iPad or on the laptop trying to open something before we realized…oh yeah, that requires internet!

Over the past two years we’ve been without conventional television, choosing instead to be a Netflix family. So being without internet has been a double whammy, because our entertainment via Netflix has also been disabled. Life is rough here in Northern Michigan!

Alas, God gave us some much needed perspective when we got an update from our friends Andy and Jodie, who are serving God half way around the world. Andy was the feature of my 100th blog (a few blogs early due to his departure from America; you can read it here). He and his family are an inspiration to anyone living the Overboard Life, and he has been one of my dearest and best friends over the past 12+ years.

Andy and Jodie are adjusting to a brand new culture. They are experiencing things I’ve never come close to: things like real hunger. I’m not talking about the kind of hungry when I just can’t decide which of the fast food restaurants I’m going to eat at, or which thing in my overflowing fridge I’m going to devour. I’m talking about the kind of hunger where you’ve eaten your “food” for the day, and your bowl of rice just isn’t cutting it at 9pm. The type of hunger where the nearest real store is 2 hours by car, and that’s if you only get one flat tire, and aren’t stopped by authorities to pay a “tax” (a tax that isn’t written anywhere and is required if you wish to proceed). A kind of hunger where you really are wondering where your next meal is going to come from, and where you have no answers for your kids when they ask about food. There is no electricity, and therefore little-to-no cold storage. Meal gathering and preparation is a full-time task, taking up over 1/2 of the hours he and Jodie are awake.

As I was lamenting my loss of internet, Andy was a million miles away, lamenting a lack of safety. Each night before they go to bed, he and his wife spend 90 minutes securing the mosquito nets for their kids’ beds to keep them free from malaria-carrying insects. He kills giant spiders and scorpions by the twos and has already had several encounters with deadly snakes. He spends the afternoons taking a machete to the tall grass; a way to keep the snakes from getting comfortable near their home.

Andy does have internet however. If he’s willing to take a 90 minute hike (one way), up a hilltop outside of his village, where he can use a regional cell phone to tether a signal and send a few emails. Not enough signal to do any web browsing, but just enough to download his current batch of emails, and send the ones he worked on back in the village. Then he walks 90 minutes home, all the while keeping a watchful eye for dangerous creatures.

Yeah…but I have to walk five minutes to my office to get internet!

Sometimes, a little perspective can go a long way. There’s no doubt that not having internet has been an inconvenience. But that’s all it is. I have access to it elsewhere, I can plan better for my time, and I still have an iPhone (with the old school unlimited data plan!) that gives me all the access I want. In the big picture, my life is still pretty good even without internet.

This unintended internet fast has been good for me, and good for my family. Is there something in your life you should take a break from in order to gain a little perspective? My friend Aaron is a 20-something young married who gave up video gaming for the month of January. That was like cutting off an arm for him, but half way through the month he told me, “I can’t believe how much time I have now!” Indeed. What about you? Is there a “necessity” in life that you could go without to gain a little perspective? Spare me the excuses (I’ve heard and used them all), and get down to the nitty gritty: how much do you really need that thing in your life? Heck, my friend Cal still doesn’t have a cell phone and he somehow manages to still stay pretty connected to his friends and family. (Although really, Cal, ditch the rotary phone and go with the touch pad!)

Living Overboard requires us to identify what’s really important, and to make sure we never compromise the important and essential for the convenient and fun. Yes, it’s ok to enjoy conveniences and to seek out pleasure and fun; it’s just not ok to think either of those things is essential in our lives! What starts out as ok, can easily become a driving force, and a real distraction from living Overboard.

One time, a rich young man came to Jesus and boasted in his diligence to obey every law (613 of them, give or take). Yet he knew, inherently, something was still missing. So he asked Jesus, “What must I do to be saved?” Jesus’ response was shocking: “Give all that you have to the poor, then come and follow me.” The man was rich, and he couldn’t imagine parting with his wealth. He left rejecting Jesus and embracing his wealth.

Jesus wasn’t telling us that having things (ie. conveniences or money) was evil. He was pointing out that it’s far too easy for those things to drive us, instead of us driving them. The rich man who came to Jesus was boasting in his actions, and Jesus was revealing where the man’s real treasure was. In much the same way, Andy’s situation has helped me identify some troubled areas in my life.

What convenience or possession or piece of entertainment has a strong hold in your life? If you’re brave, post it in the comments for others to see. Then, find a creative way to take a break. See how you can gain a little perspective and make sure your Overboard Life isn’t being limited because of poor stewardship on your part.

Go ahead and take the plunge…life is always better on the water!

Do the unthinkable

A few weeks ago I came across a great blog about faith and the arts. I really want to encourage you to check out Joey O’Conner’s blog. I highly recommend you sign up for his email list and receive a free copy of his book, “The Longing”. It’s outstanding and I think you’ll find Joey’s writing is very compelling, entertaining and super personable. Here’s the link to Joey’s blog: http://www.joeyo.org

As I started scanning his blog page, I realized that he was the director of one of my favorite mini-movies, ever. He did the biographical piece on Scott Rigsby. I mentioned Scott in my first book, and in fact, referenced Joey’s movie. Scott was an 18 year old Georgia kid, fresh out of high school, working in the summer while he was getting ready for college in the fall. A freak accident involving a trailer and a semi put Scott in the hospital, made him endure countless medical procedures and surgeries, and over several years, eventually cost him both of his legs.

A former high school football player and athlete, Scott’s life took a nose dive. He battled depression, fear, anger and bitterness as he dealt with his new life. However, in the depths of his struggle, Scott came to terms with his faith in God and Scott’s life took on a whole new story. You could not spend a better few minutes today, than the few it will take you to watch this story:

Scott Rigsby

Scott is truly living the Overboard Life. How about you? Will you do the unthinkable for God?

Go ahead and take the plunge, life is always better on the water!