Power Failure

Tonight, I'm heading to San Antonio, Texas. Not only does the out-of-town streak continue, but I am returning to another city that is all too familiar for me. As many of you might know, I spent a great deal of time in the dirty San Antone when I was in college. After that relationship concluded, I swore to myself that I would do everything in my power to never return. If I was ever heading south, I would drive around it. If there would ever be a layover at the airport, I would fly around it. I was bound and determined to stay away; truth is I hate San Antonio. It's dirty, unpleasant and filled with a certain demographic that is over populating the city. But to much dismay, my powers have failed me. One of my college best friends, Doug Yaklin, is getting married in none other than San Antonio. I would have declined the invite, and I think he knew this, so he made me part of the wedding party. He is a smart man. All joking aside, I am super excited for him and his future wife, and I cannot wait to see them unite. They are one of the very few couples who have survived a long distance relationship, and they could not be any better for each other. I was there the day they met, and I have made many trips with him to go see her (some probably against our better judgement, leaving at 2:00 AM for a 7 1/2 hour drive). I have given him much advise on what not to do in a long distance relationship, and to no surprise, it has been very successful. Anyways, San Antonio, here I come.

Foto Friday:

The whole gang

Me, Donnie and Bill

Dashboard Jesus

As I was driving to work this morning, I reminded myself of a small-group lesson that I put together a couple of months ago. I was sitting in my car praying and driving, as I do every morning on my way to work. Somewhere along the way, I realized that part of the time I was praying, and the other part my mind was drifting on to other things. If you were to be honest, I bet you would see that, like me, you too occasionally find yourself not grasping the concept of who God is when you are praying. Instead, our intentions are half hearted and our focus is else where. I'm guilty of getting into a prayer routine, and instead of praying because I need to talk to God, I'm praying because it's time to talk to God. To help break this habit, I have found a good way to get outside of this routine mindset. Put yourself in the situation that you are physically before the Lord. Make yourself think that God is physically standing right in front of you or sitting beside you, and you are actually talking to Him at that moment. Truth is, He really is right there beside you and you really are talking to Him at that moment. That's part of our faith; believing that God is physically there, even though we can't see Him. Personally, this is why I let my mind drift sometimes or my praises are few because I can't physically see Him. But if you were to put yourself in that situation, how would your tone change? How would your requests and your praises change? What would you actually say? It's like MercyMe's song I Can Only Imagine; what would you do in the presence of God? I am extremely guilty of not getting in the right frame of mind when I'm talking to God. To even take this a step further, how would we act if we were to get in the mindset that God is right there beside us even when we aren't praying? How would our choices and decisions differ from when we aren't thinking that God is following us around? This is a scary thought for me. I have made so many less than heroic decisions in my life that I'm ashamed to get into this mindset. It's hard for me to grasp the concept of grace when I look back on all of my intentional sins. Wouldn't it all be easier if we could just actually see Him?

Random Birthday

Just A Random Thought: I have a friend who has a birthday coming up on the 25th. I was talking to him last night, and we, some how, got on the subject of his birthday. Now, my view on birthday presents is that when you stop inviting me over to play Pin The Tail On The Donkey, I stop getting you presents. Well, this guy not only implies that I'm getting him a birthday present, but he tells me what I'm getting him. It wasn't like, "Hey man, what are you getting me?" It was a, "For my birthday you are doing this..." He didn't ask me to come over and mow his yard either. He gave me a full-blown task for the next two months. The kicker, he won't even be around to appreciate my efforts. Happy Birthday Jerk! (I'm kidding, this is all for my own good, I'm sure) I really didn't even know when his birthday was, so who's the real jerk?

Summer Time

As I feel the heat of the sun coming from the window behind me, I realize that summer is upon us. This makes me very happy. We have seen enough rain, the ground is wet, the rivers and lakes are full, and now its time to go out and play. I have compiled a small list of my favorite summer time activities past and present (these are in no particular order or rating):

1. Countless amounts of sleepovers with friends and cousins

2. Going to the lake house (both old and new lake house)

3. Vacation - Emphasis on Eureka Springs/Branson

4. Snow Cones (extra juice)

5. Swimming Pools

6. Hurricane Creek Country Club

7. The SUN!


Anyways, I somehow found my way into a Golf Tournament this weekend in Memphis, Texas, so once again the going-of-town streak continues. Today is a beautiful day. The sun is shining, the rain is gone, and I am going to the golf course.

From Pet Peeves to Sheer Entertainment

I worked at the Deuce last night, and during the shift I noticed that for some reason we were getting a lot of first time guests. I'm not talking first time to the Deep Deuce Grill; I'm talking first time to a bar/restaurant in general. When you go to an establishment, such as ours, and you have the intentions of ordering yourself a drink, generally, you have an idea of what genre of drink you are going to order. People who have never experienced the bar scene, ask questions that bar tenders dread answering; "What do you have to drink?" or "What do you think I would like to drink?" This question will probably get you one of two things at a bar: (1) crappy service or (2) a crappy drink. In the same category, if you ask your waiter or waitress, "What would I like to eat?" most likely, you are going to get bad service or bad food. I've recently gone past the curve of getting annoyed and started looking forward to these questions.

Keep in mind that when you ask these questions, the bartender has never met you nor has he ever gone out with you for drinks, so he has no clue about your taste in alcohol. You should see the stupidity in asking someone who has never met you about your personal interests. This is where it gets fun. I really don't care anymore if people enjoy their experience at the Deep Deuce; just as long as I'm having fun. Typically, the annoyed response to this question is "Beer, liquor, wine... what'll it be?" or they will have to start probing you for information about yourself to meet your needs. Not me. I've started answering these questions in two different ways.

If it's a dude who is so indecisive about what he wants to drink that he has to ask the bartender for help, I get him an Appletini. The Appletini is one of the girliest drinks offered at a bar. It comes in a martini glass and has a neon green tint to it. There is absolutely no way that he can ever obtain a cool appearance while holding this drink, but he is forced to drink it because it cost about $10 a drink. Even better, you can't just down it in one gulp because it is a very, very strong drink and will burn your throat, so you have to sip it. This means that it'll take a while to get through one glass, and he's going to be looking very feminine for a long time.

If it's a woman, I serve her a Hurricane. You're probably thinking to yourself, what's in a Hurricane. Good question because 90% of bartenders don't know either. I have no clue what's in a Hurricane. It's our chance to just stand behind the bar and pour anything and everything into a glass. The trick is being able to turn it pink or red so that she thinks its a girly drink. It really doesn't matter what it tastes like because people who have to ask what they would like to drink already know that all alcohol tastes like diesel, and they're not going to like whatever you give them anyways.


I love my job.

A Weekend Miracle II

I'm going to have the pleasure of returning to my alma mater this weekend, Texas Tech. Will I see the campus? Maybe from across the street as we do the Broadway Shuffle, but I have no intentions of going on campus. I am going to Lubbock to hang out with my long lost brother and cousin, Greg and Jenna. As some of you may know, it's a rarity in itself to see either of these two at an individual time, but to be able to see both of them at the same time, that's a miracle. Jenna happened to read my last blog and told me she was heading to Lubbock this weekend. And if you got the gist of the last blog, it didn't take much convincing for me to agree to head that direction as well.

Greg and I lived together 2 of my 3 years of college, and when I graduated, I moved to Oklahoma. This made it almost impossible for Greg and I to remain as close as we were during college. We manage to see each other maybe once every 3 months, but when we do reunite, a fun-point or two is bound to be scored.

Jenna and I lived together our first year at Texas Tech; when I say, "lived together," I mean all of our stuff was at the same location. I rarely ever stayed at the apartment and we rarely ever saw each other. Jenna and I are so close because of our childhood. People always ask about my siblings. I always tell them that biologically I have one brother, but really, I have two brothers and a sister. When you live in such a small town and have a family as close as ours, you are around each other almost every day. Growing up it seemed like we were paired by age; Greg and Ferg were always a pair, and Jenna and I was always a pair. Although we always fought like brother and sister, we also joined a bond like a brother and sister.

I am super excited about getting to see both of my long lost relatives this weekend. I am sure that it is going to be a large time and a wonderful family reunion.



I have a uselessly useful thought for you today. Although I have despised wearing them my entire life, hats save a lot of time when getting ready in the mornings. I never wore a hat up until about 6 months ago. Now, I wear one about 3 times a week to work. Awesome.

Forced To Be Average

I feel like all of my resources are tapped out. I can't think of anything to write about. I think it's because I'm stuck in this same routine, and I can't break the habit. I'm like a robot! Here is my schedule:

Sunday - Church, Church
Monday - Work, Workout, Softball
Tuesday - Work, Workout, Overflow
Wednesday - Work, Workout, Cornerstone
Thursday - Work, Work (Deuce)

As my mother has so adamantly reminded me, this is the life of the average person out of college. BORING! Where are the new people, new faces, new friends? Quote me on this: Routine is for people who have given up on adventure or yielded to "growing up." I'm 23 years old. I am no where close to letting myself live a life of the average person.

If you notice, I left out Friday and Saturday. That's because I've come up with a compromising solution. Friday and Saturday, I make no commitments or plans about what I'm doing. If I decide to drive to Lubbock at noon on Friday to hang out with my brother, I like to know that when 4:00 comes I don't have to cancel anything or check with anyone first; I can just get in the car and start driving. I might already have a bag packed because I know that I'm going to want to go somewhere over the weekend.

So far, this strategy has been quite successful. It is helping me ignore the normalcy and routine of my life during the weekdays. Since adapting this strategy, this is what my weekends have amounted to: College Station, TX (04-18), Adair, OK(04-25), Fayetteville, AR(05-01), Dallas, TX(05-09). This doesn't mean that I'm going to try and leave OKC every weekend, but the odds of me turning down an opportunity are pretty slim.

For the time being, I am content with my lifestyle, but let me warn you, I'm getting antsy sitting behind a desk all day staring at a computer screen. Don't be surprised if you see a change in the future that gets me out from behind this desk and helps me break the mold of averageness that I'm being forced into.

Momma D

Since this weekend is Mother's Day, I figured that I would tell you some of the wonderful things about my mother that I am thankful for. My mother, Marilyn Davis, has to be one of the all time greatest mothers in history. My entire life she has always been extremely supportive of everything that I do. Whether I was playing in a sporting event or performing in some play, my mother was always sitting in the crowd. I don't use the word always lightly; I can't remember one event that she ever missed. She never complained about being there, and I always knew that no matter what the outcome (even if I was getting thrown out of the game she came to watch) she was pleased with me and proud to call me her son.

It was never a question in our house if something was right or wrong because my mother made sure that my brother and I always knew how to behave and what was expected of us. That's not saying that I never screwed up, but when I was doing something wrong it wasn't in ignorance. She was a firm believer in corporal punishment and exercised her right to do this on a daily basis; whether it was a paint stir-stick, a fly swatter, or her high heel shoe (only happened once, and I deserved it) we were disciplined appropriately. I know there are some who might look down on this sort of parenting, and to them I would say, "You are not smart (in this case, I would use another word but because of Mom, I know that it is impolite to call someone retarded)." I am a much better man today because of the way that I was parented in those situations.

She is known to all of our friends as Momma D, and it fits her perfectly because she is just as much of a mother to each and every one of them as she is to her own children. Our door was always open to anyone who wanted to walk through it, and anyone who came in, wasn't going to leave until they were miserably full and loved. She only had one rule and all of our friends knew it: if you're going to stay in her house on Saturday night, you're going to church with her on Sunday morning.

I could ramble on about how amazing my mother is to me and how much I appreciate her, but I will leave you with the most important lesson that I learned from her. My mother is one of the most God loving, God fearing people on this earth. She has always made it clear to us that we should make God the number one priority in our lives, as He is in her life, even before her own children. At an early age, she was forced to be the mother and the father to my brother and me, and she never once blamed God. Seeing her reaction to such a devastating event has taught me more in life than any lecture or sermon could ever do. She has a passion for the Lord that surpasses any desire or addiction known to man, and through the way she lives her life, she motivates me to want to do better.

When it comes to that unfortunate point in my life that I have children, I never plan on missing one of their events, they will know right from wrong, they will be spanked, their friends will be loved, and they will know where God fits in their priorities.

God the Jokester

When it is questioned whether or not God has a sense of humor, I think the answer is pretty obvious. Dave likes to make the point that the proof lies in the act of pooping; my answer is not much different because I think it's funny and completely unnecessary that we fart. One of the funniest God humor stories that I've heard in a long time actually happened to Dave at church.

One Sunday, Dave went to Life Church by himself, and he sat on the back row with two friends. When he looked up towards the front, he saw a gorgeous young lady sitting by herself. Dave, not wanting to be rude, went up and introduced himself and asked if she was alone. When she confirmed his suspicion, he invited her to join him and his two friends on the back row. She complied and joined them. Dave thought to himself that he might of actually found the first attractively available girl in Oklahoma. Dave could barely pay attention to the sermon because he wanted to learn more about this girl. During conversation with her, he asked where she went to school, to which she replied that she was a junior at Jones. Ignorant Dave, shrugged it off because he didn't know of Jones University, so he thought it must be a community college somewhere in the area. Later, he asked one of his friends about Jones.

God's first little joke: Jones is a high school in Edmond. Dave was slightly embarrassed because he had always heard that Edmond girls look older, and he never figured her for a 17 year old junior in high school. Dave, not wanting to go to jail, ceased his eagerness of getting to know this girl and started noticing the signs of her age from her actions. The first sign was that she was a little over anxious to come sit with him in the first place. The second sign came from her awkwardness in social situations (I'll explain this in a second). After the service, they all met in the lobby, and Dave introduced her to his two friends. Late in the conversation, Dave noticed the most awful and unmanageable smell coming from their circle. Dave looked at his first buddy and, under his breath, asked if he farted. The friend nonchalantly denied it. Dave looked at his other buddy and asked the same question. He too, denied it. All three at the same time looked at the girl.

God's second little joke: the girl farted. She knew she was caught by the knowing glances of the three guys. Not wanting to address the situation and extremely embarrassed, she awkwardly smiled and said that she had to go. She then, frantically rushed away from their circle. Disgusted, embarrassed, and amused, Dave left the church with his proof that God has a sense of humor. Even in His own house, God can make light of an awkward situation. Sometimes, we just have to cope with the fact that His jokes stink... literally.

When it Rains

From my short existence on this earth, I've learned to take lessons from the little things in life. My lesson remembered today is one given to me from the rain. As I sit at my desk in my office, I can hear the rain falling on the window behind me. Listening to the moans and complaining of people around the office, I am reminded that even though one thing is displeasing to some, it is probably a blessing to others. In most cases, we have the option of choosing which side of the river to stand; do we look at the situation as a negative or a positive. I normally would say that your decision is based on your current mood. I woke up this morning cold, tired, and grumpy. The only thing that was good about this Monday was that it's softball night. I could choose to chime in with my co-workers and tell them how disappointed I am that I don't get to play tonight and that I just want to go home and stay dry. Or I could stand against them, and tell them that my schedule was just cleared up for the evening and that I now have time for friends that I've been putting off because I'm always busy. When looking at these two options with a clear head, its pretty obvious which is the more desirable answer. Lately, it seems like my reasoning has been distracted and my attitude has been abnormally grim. I finally hit the point that I've been such a beat down that I've started not wanting to hang out with myself. So I was thinking why I would choose to take the grim look on this situation. I think its because I haven't been seeking out my blessings. I think we have this idea that we get to sit in our comfortable chair and wait for God to deliver our blessing to us on a silver platter. That shouldn't be the case at all. I think God has a blessing and he wants to give it to us, but we have to go get it. I don't necessarily think we have to travel to the top of a mountain, but I do know that it begins with us getting out of our lazy boy. So to prove my theory wrong, I think our decision can be based on how bad we need our day to change. So I decided that I could use a blessing today. I don't want to go on with this pity-me attitude. So what did I do? I've already made plans.