“She’ll be right” is an Australian phrase meaning, “Everything will be OK.”

It’s what I’m trying to say to myself this week and then next couple months as we miss my daughter Shannon. 

Shannon is going to a “set apart place” to seek Jesus Christ on a deeper level in a place that is specifically designed for it.

“I am going to spend more time in the Word of God; in God’s presence, growing in boldness, grace and love.”

Where?

This week I’m responding to Ken Davis’ call to be “fully alive.” Fully alive people are characterized by many things including meaningful friendships, courageously overcoming fear, and a determination to course corrections when they fail.

We all fail.  Failure is painful.

Pain is part of the price of living.
– Love is painful.
– Relationships are painful.
– Failing is painful.

If we choose to move forward in our quest to live fully alive, we will fall, it will hurt . . . and it will be worth it.

Be prepared to pay the price. Change costs.  Progress can be painful.

I had just thrown an interception. In my opinion, throwing an interception was letting my team down. I failed to complete the pass. I failed to help my teammate Madison. She could have caught a good pass, but I threw it where she couldn’t catch it. 

“Other Scott” happily grabbed it. 

“Other Scott” won the game’s MVP award, but I — this Scott — let my team down. I hate when I let my team down.

Fortunately, I was not alone.

“God did not give us a spirit that makes us afraid but a spirit of power and love and self-control.” 1

Fully Alive by Ken Davis challenges us to step out of our comfort zones, and yesterday as part of being fully alive we discussed the importance of making friends and building deep friendships.

You Can’t Fake Being Fully Alive

“You can fool people for a while, but eventually they will know. And you can never fool yourself.

Being alive is more than simply looking fluffed up and combed out on the outside. It’s a matter of attitude. And that comes from the inside. Approaching…challenges with the right attitude is the first and most important step you can take. Your attitude will launch your dreams or bury them.”

Yesterday I posted my review of Fully Alive by Ken Davis.

Davis’ book challenges us to step out of our comfort zones to build deep friendships.

Today is the first day of school for millions of children; it’s an ideal opportunity to build on old friendships or to start building new ones.

How Can I Build Friendships?

Davis explains, “Making friends is like exercise; it requires discipline and vigilance.”  1
– It takes time
– It takes patience
– It takes graciousness.

Graciousness?

Ken Davis unveiled, “I had not been living fully alive for a long time, but I was ready to start. First I had to change some of the attitudes that had sucked the lifeblood from my veins.”

Subtitled “a journey that will change your life”, author Davis challenges us to step up, step in and live life fully alive.

Discovery

Ken Davis’ family was celebrating Christmas at a cozy cabin in the mountains of Colorado. While sledding with his grandchildren Davis had a surreal experience.

“I blazed past my grandchildren…’Grandpa! Wait for me!’ they hollered.

The Book of Man by William J. Bennett

Let’s Bring Back Heroes

“Men are called to be heroes in ways both big and small in every area of their lives, all the areas we cover in this book—war, work, and play; civic life, family life, and prayer life. What follows is a piece I wrote more than forty years ago and one whose message serves as a foundation for the pieces to follow. Whether we take up the sword, the plow, the ball, the gavel, our children, or our Bibles, we must always do it like the men we are called to be.”

I take risks.

I do, I take risks.

When you read that you might have thought:
– “What kind of risks?”
– “I take risks too.”
– “Risks? I like playing it safe.”
– “I love risk-takers.”
– “He’s in his forties, he shouldn’t be taking risks.”
– “I used to be a risk-taker, but I’ve gotten burned.  Now I play it safer.”

And, if you know me personally you know that I don’t:
– Free-climbing a mountains
– Free-dive for octopus
– Sky dive

I don’t, but I could.

My friend Angela said it briefly and wisely…”love takes courage.” <3

Courage.
Courage to love.
Courage to love through conflict.
Courage to love despite inevitable change. and the courage to love from a distance.

Remember that the time and effort we invest in a relationship, is evidence of the value we place in it:

If we prioritize our marriage relationship it will most likely give us a happier marriage.

If we prioritize time and trust with a best friend it will most likely yield a lasting friendship.

Overcoming Fear

Eric Valli, a professional photographer, is dangling by a nylon rope from a 395 foot cliff in Nepal.

Nearby on a rope ladder is another man, Mani Lal, doing what he has done for decades: hunting honey.

Here in the Himalayan foothills, the cliffs shelter honeycombs of the world’s largest honeybee. At the moment, thousands of them are buzzing around both men. Lal, a veteran of hundreds of such attacks, is calm. Not so Mr. Valli.