Merciless Moon
“I’m turning 35 this year.” I told this to Mylissa a few weeks ago. Wow. I am literally astounded how time disappears. Time is something that I long for….something we all long for in one way or another. For some of us we just cant wait for that certain something to happen. You watch the clock, you X off the days and you daydream about that special day that is to come. For others you are just numb…floating through space and time not worrying about the future or thinking about the past. You are just making it day to day and that is OK with you.
Then there are those of us that wish there was more time.
I think this is the majority of us…or at least the majority of people I surround myself with. We end every day wishing there was more time in the day. At the end of day we take a deep breath and think where did the day go. We wish there were more hours in the day to accomplish more, to spend more time with our kids or to finish that project you have been wanting to finish. Maybe we should listen to advice from Michael Hyatt and shave some time off our week. Some of us just want more time. We want to press pause because we want time to stop, we are good right where it is…we don’t want to 
know what comes next…we just want to revel in the present. We want to seize the day. But as one of the lyrics in a Mumford and Sons songs says the ‘merciless moon’ keeps coming every night. In the song it says:
But you and I now
We can be alright
Just hold on to what we know is true
You and I now
Though it’s cold inside
Feel the tide turning
This is where I am. I know that I can be alright and I am holding on to what is true. But that tide is turning. Life is changing. Life is happening. Life is coming. Life is going. I’m getting older, my kids are getting older by the day and everyday that merciless moon comes out. As much as I want to press pause, I know I can’t.
I feel the tide turning.
Inspire: Adventure or nothing.
Hello March 2012.
Remember when you where in grade school and anything in the year 2000+ was going to be extremely futuristic and awesome? Like flying cars or maybe teleportation?
Stuff like this
Then 2012 gets here and things are about the same as they used to be… minus Apple’s awesomeness and having access the world at our fingertips with an iPhone. Yet the one thing that is changing the world is really not technology…its people. Think about your life and when the greatest changes happened in your life. These changes happened because of people in your life, people that intersected in your life, people that inspired you, and people that you said to yourself “I will never be that person.”
Growing up for me I had some people that greatly affected and influenced my life.
My parents
A at a young age showed me how to take care of others. I watched them take care of many elderly people, in addition to their own parents, and give away much of their life to taking care of them.
My soccer coach
Steven French showed me that you could invest into youth and have positive influence.
My high school guidance counselor
Told me that I wasn’t college material and should pick up a trade.
My high school girlfriend who later became my wife:
I found out what true love was and the joy & pain that comes from loving someone. She was the first person who saw me for who I was and accepted me. She has continually made me desire to be a better man, husband and father.
Jesus
Showed me what unconditional love was, that my life had purpose, and He saved me from destructive path that would have ended me in jail or dead.
My father in law
Showed me what it meant to be a patriarch. Sometimes maybe not in the greatest way, but he showed me what it meant to make sure that your family is always taken care of.
The people that inspire me today are entrepreneurs using business to fund social change and people that drop everything that makes them comfortable to become uncomfortable for the sake of others.
People like:
Blake Mycoskie – Founder of Toms Shoes.
Who after competing on the 2nd season of Amazing Race, saw so many children in the world with out shoes. Without shoes children can acquire diseases and not allowed to attend school. He invested everything he had in a company with a simple concept. You buy one pair of shoes, they give one pair away. In 6 years they have given away over 1million pairs of shoes.
Katie Davis:
“An eighteen
year-old old senior class president and homecoming queen from Nashville, Tennessee, to disappoint her parents by forgoing college, break her little brother’s heart, lose all but a handful of her friends (because the rest of them think she has gone off the deep end), and break up with the love of her life, all so she could move to Uganda, where she knew only one person but didn’t know any of the language? A passion to make a difference. Katie Davis left over Christmas break her senior year for a short mission trip to Uganda and her life was turned completely inside out. She found herself so moved by the people and children of Uganda that she knew her calling was to return and care for them. She has given up a relatively comfortable life—at a young age—to care for the less fortunate of this world. She was so moved by the need she witnessed, she’s centered her life around meeting that need. Katie, a charismatic and articulate young woman, is in the process of adopting thirteen children in Uganda, and she completely trusts God for daily provision for her and her family.
The people in my life story have shaped who I am. As I look back and reflect on it…it made me think about who am I influencing? How am I impacting those around me? Do I inspire people or tear them down? Is there someone that I need to appreciate for exactly who they are?
Helen Keller put it this way: ““Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.” - Helen Keller
Inspire someone today.
Sometimes you just have to jump.
There is something I have been thinking about lately. An opportunity that I don’t want to miss. An epic “Carpe
Diem” if you will. If I want to spiritualize it…maybe it’s a door that God has opened for me. As I read this morning in James 1:17 “Every good and perfect gift is from above…” There have been a few times in my life where anopportunity has presented itself to me that I have choice to jump and see where it has wings or don’t and wonder what could have happened.
Last week we took the kids to Heber Springs, AR. Not really knowing what to expect until we got there…it turned
out to be a fairly interesting area. After browsing the town, checking out a ‘trickling’ waterfall, and trout hatchery we decided to head over to the lake and find a place to swim. At the ‘beach’ there were rock formations over the water, which were all perfect for cliff jumping into the water. From 3’ to 30’ kids and adults were jumping into the perfect temperature of water. Mylissa’s first reaction, as well as mine, was to say ‘no cliff diving for the kids!” Its too dangerous…something might happen…you could get hurt…were the thoughts running through our head. After watching many little kiddos jump in, I decided to jump in and let the kids decide if they wanted to try it.
As you can see… they had a blast. There was this moment though… the moment of should I jump or should I not? I told them they had to jump out away from the rock. They couldn’t just hop in. The risks and benefits were weighed. He backed up…took a look and boldly and courageously took the 6’ plunge into the water.
There is an old song by Townes Van Zandt called to “To live is to fly”…that I just love lyrics…
We all got holes to fill
Them holes are all that’s real
Some fall on you like a storm
Sometimes you dig your own
But choice is yours to make
And time is yours to take
Some dive into the sea
Some toil upon the stone
To live is to fly
So shake the dust off of your wings
And a sleep out of your eyes
What opportunities have you let pass by that you wish you seized the moment? Do you wonder what if ____________? What is holding you back? If fear of the unknown is your main reason for not doing it …maybe its time to take 3 steps back…run…and jump.
Building Docks
Just got back from spending a week in NY with my family. Going to NY continues to be a very emotionally difficult time for me. Every time I return there is small part of me that thinks to myself that my Dad will be there when I get there. Of course everything in me knows he will not be…but there is this expectation and then a let down
when we get there. I spent some time doing the things that my dad would normally do in the summer while I was up there…building dock sections and misc cottage repairs. Mylissa helped me with the docks, which was a huge blessing and the boys helped drive a few screws as well. Just building docks right? Well the last time that I built docks was with my Dad. There are dock forms that he built, that he used last. Building a dock is a process. Measure, get supplies, sand, stain, measure, cut, build, sand and then a finish stain. During this whole process, I couldn’t get my Dad off my mind. Part of me was angry, part melancholy, but part joy and gratification that I was filling my dads shoes. Doing something that he would normally do or I would do with him.
It made me think about my life. What am I teaching those around me? What am I or what will I be teaching my children that they will take with them for the rest of their life. There are many things that my father showed me by life example that I have developed me into the person I am today.
As a father of 3 children…how am doing this? I began to think about this process.
Measure. Get Supplies. Sand(prep). Stain. Measure. Cut. Build. Sand. Stain.
In context to my children…How can I MEASURE where they are at? (in Christ, maturity, humility, obedience, disciplines). How can I SUPPLY them? What tools and material do they need? How can I begin to PREP them? Round off the rough edges? How can I show them that their life was bought with a STAIN? That their sins are covered? Then as they go through life…teach them to Measure their own life, assess where things are at? Then CUT off what is not needed… Cut off the excess? Then BUILD your life on what is TRUE, what is HOLY, what is PURE. Then let the Lord begin to SAND away the rough edges and help form them. Repent of the sin and ugliness. Then always come back to Christ and let his STAIN cover them. The blood that was shed for them and has covered their sins.
The hands of the craftsman always get dirty and banged up as he forms his masterpiece. I have peace knowing that my master craftsman is willing to get dirty and banged up. It lets me know that I am His and He is mine and that He cares about me deeply.
be who you are
Being away for a month and just being myself, with my family, with no obligations was very, very freeing. Being in the Asheville, NC area took that to the next level because freedom of self expression and individuality rules the roost there. I have not been to Austin or Portland yet, but by far this is one of the most creative and unique cities I have ever been exposed to. Tattoos, art galleries, chef owned restaurants, street performers and festivals are of abundance in this quaint mountain city.
One night we went out to the up and coming West Asheville area for dinner at a place called Universal Joint. 
We noticed some drummers setting up outside the restaurant. After a very lengthy view at their huge microbrew menu, (Liquids) I succumbed to a local stout. Then I glanced at the food menu, described as “SOLIDS”, I saw 2 words. Fish Tacos. And they were DELISH fish tacos. As we waited for our ‘liquids‘ and ‘solids‘ the drummers began to play, our boys began run and play in small green space 
with other kiddos. These guys were tight. Inviting people to come up and dance, Mylissa joined in and her old African Dance Class moves kicked in. Talking to them afterwards, one of them was from Guinea and we may have convinced them to come to LUVMUD this year. (note: follow up on that!)
Everyone (ok…I’m sure not everyone) but everyone…seems to be who they are here. Nothing to hide. People there talk to one another without knowing who the other person is. People there tend to be transparent and willing openly share feelings. Over our month there, I began to get comfortable in my skin again, something that has become stifled over the years. I know I created my own world in which I feel stifled, but its been fun to tear down some of those walls. I even went out dancing with Mylissa and some old friends one night and completely loved it. (note: watch Hitch again)
A great author once said “Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind won’t matter and those who matter won’t mind.” -Theodore Geisel aka Dr. Seuss.
Wouldn’t that be an emotionally freeing world!
I am looking forward to this year, as God peels back the shell in which I hold myself back. I am looking forward to sharing life more intimately and vulnerably with those close around me. I am looking forward to dancing with my bride. I am looking forward to doing things differently, taking some leaps of faith, and understanding more of who God created me to be. God created each of uniquely for His purposes. I wonder if we all stretched ourselves, be who we really are… what might happen.
Do something different.
one month of rest
We just got back from a one month sabbatical. It was four weeks of being unplugged from our ‘normal’ life of the Horrocks family. For those of you who know our ‘normal’ life, you understand why this was a necessary trip to take after 5 years of living in community with families that have critically ill children. It was very hard for me to say yes to this, because of how self serving it is. So where did we go?
We went to Black Mountain, NC.
As some of you know Mylissa and I were married at the age of 20 and moved to the mountains of North Carolina to attend Montreat College. Our daughter Bella was born here it this area has a very special place in our hearts. The picture you see here is looking over Lake Tomahawk at the Seven Sister Range. This range over looks the town of Montreat and Black Mountain, this image is forever engrained (someday I’ll share more). We also spent a good deal of our time over in Asheville which has more arts and culture then many large cities.
We had a tremendous time of just being a family with no interruptions, no schedules, no chaos and living in a home just to ourselves for one month. We are incredibly blessed by those who supported us in prayer and financial support to make this happen. We had some sweet time with our kiddos sharing memories of our past, riding bikes, reconnecting with old friends, walking around Lake Tomohawk (lake above), getting ice cream in the village and primarily reconnecting as a family.
We were also able to fellowship at a great little church that friends of our started, which I would like share from a couple of the messages that I heard. God really showed up and spoke to my heart, I plan on going back and listening to these messages this week.
Overall God blessed us greatly, peeled back my blinders that have built up over the years, opened my heart to see His goodness and how He uniquely created me for His glory and His purposes.
There is always more to the story.
Oswald Chambers…great word yesterday
Are You Exhausted Spiritually?
Exhaustion means that our vital energies are completely worn out and spent. Spiritual exhaustion is never the result of sin, but of service. Whether or not you experience exhaustion will depend on where you get your supplies. Jesus said to Peter, “Feed My sheep,” but He gave him nothing with which to feed them (John 21:17). The process of being made broken bread and poured-out wine means that you have to be the nourishment for other people’s souls until they learn to feed on God. They must drain you completely— to the very last drop. But be careful to replenish your supply, or you will quickly be utterly exhausted. Until others learn to draw on the life of the Lord Jesus directly, they will have to draw on His life through you. You must literally be their source of supply, until they learn to take their nourishment from God. We owe it to God to be our best for His lambs and sheep, as well as for Him.
Have you delivered yourself over to exhaustion because of the way you have been serving God? If so, then renew and rekindle your desires and affections. Examine your reasons for service. Is your source based on your own understanding or is it grounded on the redemption of Jesus Christ? Continually look back to the foundation of your love and affection and remember where your Source of power lies. You have no right to complain, “O Lord, I am so exhausted.” He saved and sanctified you to exhaust you. Be exhausted for God, but remember that He is your supply. “All my springs are in you” (Psalm 87:7).
