Daryl Strickland

Thanks to the generosity of a couple in our church and their company, me and Kelli were able to get away this week for a little R&R. It was a blast and extremely relaxing. I have found out that to really rest it doesn’t matter as much where your body is but where your mind is and I was definitely able to shut the noodle down this week.

Here is a short list of the weeks activities:

• Hung out in downtown Miami.
• Ate at Bubba Gumps.
• Had my first Cuban food.
• Saw two Comedy Central comedians on the boat.
• Freshly made sushi every night.
• Great 80’s show on Tuesday night.
• Saw an insane balancing act (dude balanced two swords tip to tip on his head, he also balanced a bike on his head from the back wheel).
• Rode a catamaran for the first time in my life on Tuesday in Key West.
• Snorkeled over the 3rd largest coral reef in the world.
• Hung out on the beach in Cozumel Mexico on Wednesday.
• Met some really cool pastors and there wives (over 1000 on the boat with us). Really enjoyed hanging with Mark and Jennifer Church from St. Louis. Also met Daniel Floyd from Lifepoint Church in VA.
• Gained 453 pounds
• Took an air boat ride in the Everglades on Friday.
• Dated my lovely bride all week!

I am uploading some pics to flickr so look to the right in a day or so. Until then here are a few.

What you feed grows! (I know, thank you captain obvious) This is has been so true in my life. Let me give you some practical examples:

• When I start digging into my Bible, I become so alive and I want more. I feel so dumb for slacking off.
• When I go to the gym, I have more energy and I am inspired to get fit. Again I feel dumb for slacking off.
• When I spend time on organization I get more done. Again, I feel ignorant for neglecting this aspect of my daily routine.

Can you see a pattern? The things in life that are good for me, actually invigorate me when I do them. So why in the world would I not do them more often? The simple answer is self discipline but there is more to it.

I have two appetites that I have to manage in my life and how I manage these make all the difference in the world.

One appetite is for those things that are healthy for me. My family, my faith, my productivity, my health. The other appetite is those things that pull me away from the first set. I will call this an appetite for destruction. Let me get real vulnerable on this one, this is stuff like lust, over eating, laziness. These things work just like the good list, if you feed them, they grow and not only do they grow but they cause the good list to suffer. If I look at the opposite sex in the wrong manner those desires will grow. If my mind is racing to the next meal my waste line grows. If I fuel laziness it affects my whole schedule.

So here is the game plan:

• Identify the positive appetites in your life (God, Spouse, Kids, Work)
• Feed the positive appetites (time, energy, resources)
• Identify the negative appetites in your life (sin, time wasters, health busters)
• Starve the negative appetites (cut them off cold, no time, not thoughts, no resources)

It has been dry as all get out around here lately. I mean like two years dry. When I cut my grass, I can’t see my house, or cars or anything. But even though my lawn is jacked up and my soil is dry, I have noticed that my neighbor down the street has maintained a plush green golf course lawn (and I hate him but that’s a different topic).

What is the difference in our yards? Why is it that his looks like a golf course and mine like a sand trap?

I know you know what I am about to tell you but lean in to this next part.

It’s greener because:

• He waters it daily (sometimes twice a day)
• He puts time into it
• He invest in what it likes

Nothing earth shattering there but isn’t this true in almost every area of our lives? We are attracted to greener grass in areas such as:

• Finances
• Marriages
• Jobs
• Belongings

The lie that we buy into is that all we need to do is jump the fence to enjoy the green grass but the truth is, when you get over there, you figure out that the grass is green because it is watered, kept up and cared for. The simple truth is that the grass is greener where it is watered. If you aren’t happy with your marriage, maybe you need to water it, spend time working on it and invest in it. Same with your kids and your business. This even works with your health and your realtionship with God. The more you invest the more awesome it becomes, the less you invest the drier it becomes and the more other options look better.

Take the time, energy and resources you have and invest them into your lawn (Relationship with God, Marriage, Kids, Job) and you will find that it will green up just like anyone elses.

And I already know what my little guy wants.

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Today was beautiful. Philip had a tee ball game and the weather and Philip were great! And then we got to hag out with our best friends as we gathered for Brad and Jill’s wedding. Check out the flickr link for some pics (it will take a little while to get them all up. (update: here is the set that I uploaded from the wedding)

Here is a little eye candy.

I received this email today from John and felt so humble. You may remember his name from a couple of months ago when Jeff and I baptized him in the freeeeeeeezing cold ocean. I don’t think John will mind me sharing this.

Hey Daryl,

Sorry that I did not email sooner, but I have been caught up with so much work over here. I can’t tell you how much that meant to me, that you and Jeff went in the cold beach water to baptize me. Since then, I have become a peaceful man, spreading the good word to others who find themselves depressed and lost over here. It is like my spirit came to life since that day, I truly thank you and lifepoint for making me a new man, a man that has accepted his role in the greatest story ever written. When I come back next year, I will make sure to attend the first service that I can. I hope you guys are doing great over there, take care and God bless you all.

That’s Why I do what I do. Thank you John and thank you Jesus!!!

I heard in from some of my friends in ministry and God did some serious business yesterday. Check out just a few of these stats:

• NewSpring - Our friends in Anderson, SC had 12,000 people yesterday and 120 gave their hearts to Jesus (They have been running about 8,000).
• Next Level Church - These are friends of ours in Ft. Myers, FL. They broke 1,000 yesterday for the first time and they are gaining some serious ground.
• C3 - This is the church that Jeff and I came out of. They had 4,100 people this weekend in a community that is a lot like Leland. They were running 1800 when we left just over two years ago. Go C3!
• Elevation Church - We have just met these guys but their story is incredible. They are a two year old church in Charlotte and had 4,800 people yesterday. Over 500 people gave their lives to Christ!!!
• Revolution Church - These are our friends in Canton, GA. They did an egg drop from a helicopter and expected 3,000 to 4,000 people. 12,000 people showed up and another 5,000 never made it out of their cars. Holy Cow!!! How do you make that work, they did! All this so people might know Christ loves them. Keep it up Revolution.

Just to name a few!!!!

I got this comment on my blog from a pastor friend in town this afternoon. My blog was about our service today.

“WOW! WOW! WOW!
I am so excited for you guys!
I agree with Mike Ash (this is another encourager in my life), this will be your average soon.
Hang on, because you guys have not even scratched the surface yet.
GO LIFEPOINT GO!”

Thanks Bryan ! God is doing something really cool through you.

As a matter of fact God has blessed us with quite a few encourager’s in town and I am thankful.

My NCAA bracket is falling apart right now. Jeff has 11 out of 12 right so far which means I’m in bigger trouble. He can’t even spell ESPN but he does know how to rub something in pretty good! Pray for me.

We lost a member of the family last night. For the last eight years my wife has shuttled our kids and me around in our little white minivan. Well last night it bit the dust. The transmission has been acting up for over a year and 120 miles from the house it decided to call it a career.

I am pretty bummed that the vehicle that we owed nothing on is now out of commission however I am thankful for the fact that it didn’t break down on the highway or in traffic or at night with Kelli and the kids by themselves. As a matter of fact God got us all the way to our destination last night and the final resting place for our van was a good one (where God called me into ministry).

My daughter had a tear in her eye as we pulled away this morning but Miss Montana is in a better place today.

Rust In Pieces Miss Montana!