If you knew your death was imminent - like within minutes - and there was absolutely nothing you could do about it, what do you think you would do?

Would you freak out?

Would you pray? Especially for forgiveness?

Would you try and call loved ones? Which ones?

What if you couldn't contact anyone?

For some reason I think about this when I fly. Not with any morbid panic, "we're all going to die" mindset. But just in a subdued fact of reality that it could happen.

I know what I would do. I would grab the iPhone and pull up I Can Only Imagine. I am not usually a big fan of Christian music, but I Can Only Imagine is great simply because it has no answers, just one open-ended statement-question: I Can Only Imagine?



If I had an extra couple of minutes I would probably pull up one more: Brooke White's performance of Let It Be on American Idol. I often listen to this after I have had a really bad day. It is incredibly calming.

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Other close contenders were Come What May the Moulin Rouge version and Hear You Me by Jimmy Eat World.

I think I would also try and get off one quick text message - hoping that I would get cell coverage before impact. It would probably go to Allen - strange I know - but I don't know anyone who empathetically, but helpfully breaks bad news to people better than him.

It would read:
Going down. All is well. Tell all I love them, not to be angry, and to keep living life to the fullest

It wouldn't be long, and I wouldn't send out more than one. I'd get that off, sit back, and let the moment of worship take me into eternity - whatever that may be.

I don't really know why I blogged about this today. Maybe it was last night's show. It just came to my mind for some reason and I figured I would share. That's what I would hope for in my final moments, what do you think you would do?

The second in the Women We Love - Andy's Trip Edition isn't a woman at all, but a beautiful young girl: Jadyn.

Since Jadyn graced our lives over three years ago she has changed my outlook on life so much - and she isn't even my kid.

For the past 8 days Jadyn has been my alarm clock. And if waking up to a beautiful woman who I get to sleep with is the best way to wake up, waking up with a beautiful young girl saying, "come on Uncle Andy, let's get up and play" has got to be an extremely close second.

The usual morning routine involves playing a quick game of hide and go seek, which transitions into a game of tag, and then ends with some version of dolls in her bright pink room.

The other day after tag, she was getting out her dolls and I decided to try and steal a quick moment to check the iPhone for email - which is usually literally the first thing I do in the morning (before even getting out of bed).

But as she sits down by me with dolls in hand, she looks up and sees me checking the iPhone.

She responds, in the sweetest little girl voice, "Uncle Andy, can you not check your email right now and just watch me play."

I respond, "Of course."

As I sat and watched her play, I thought to myself how important - regardless of age - it is to have people who are there just to watch us play. And sure, as we get older, "play" becomes a bit different. Play becomes work. Play becomes being a husband or wife. Play becomes raising a family. Play becomes serving our community. Play becomes a whole slue of things.

But we all need support in the things we do. We need people in our lives that essentially "watch" what we do and give us the encouragement and support that we are valuable and what we are doing is valuable.

Jadyn will grow from a young girl I love, to a young woman I love, and finally to a woman I love. And I will always be there to watch her play - no matter what that play entails. And I am grateful for those who have and continue to watch me.

Now back to playing dolls...

I recently had AT&T U-verse installed at the home. Thus far, way better than Comcast. But last Friday after it was installed, I was checking out the new features and was flipping through the channels when Julia Stiles graced my screen.

I love Julia Stiles. Now I'll be the first to admit many think she isn't that great of an actress. I'll also acknowledge that some do not find her all that attractive. But I don't care. I am not sure what it is about her, maybe her Scandinavian-vibe (even though she isn't), but I'll watch just about anything she is in.

• 10 Things I Hate About You
• Save the Last Dance
• The Omen
• All the Bourne movies

You are probably now questioning my sexuality (which would not be valid) - as well as questioning my taste in movies (which would probably be valid).

But I had never seen the movie that was on my TV screen, so I watched it. Later I learned it was called The Prince & Me. A classic, chick-porn story of a college pre-med student who unknowingly falls in love with the Prince of Denmark. Of course. Happens all the time, right?

The movie was alright, but it was this scene that made watching the movie worth it.



What do you know now that you wish you would have known 10 years ago?

We had John Izzo on the show back in June and he talked about his new book The Five Secrets You Must Discover Before You Die.

One thing he said that hit me really hard is that most of the people he interviewed for the book said they wish they had taken more risks in their life. Few regretted risks they took that failed, but many regretted not taking risks at all.

I have thought about this a lot over the past six months.

I usually consider myself a risk taker. I certainly have taken risks professionally. I even took perceived risks in education and travel (i.e. studying abroad in the middle east, flying immediately after 9/11, etc...). Learning to fly is a risk. Many would say my driving style is a risk.

I am less inclined to take risks when it comes to the interpersonal side of life. I am not really sure why that is.

The older I get the more I realize how much you don't get opportunity back. Cliché I know. But true nonetheless. It is one of the most depressing things I find about age. And while most of the time, I take the risk and it pays off, my mind still draws to occasions where I failed to do so. I'd give almost anything to do it over again.

Izzo and his people were right. As the proverbial clock that is life counts down, I think less about my failures and more about the risks that weren't taken - the opportunities missed. I am just hoping this realization at the beginning proves valuable by the end.

The largest hurdle I have in believing that there is a God is the existence of evil. I know this doesn't make me unique, or profound.

I was watching Dirty Sexy Money earlier this week and resonated so strongly with the following clip. Brian is the religious one - but by no means the Saint - in the family. As the show develops, one realizes he really is the metaphorical example of all of us struggling with good and evil.



I love the honesty. The rawness. The emotion. It reminds me of when Jeremiah laments in the Bible by saying, "You deceived me, LORD, and I was deceived. You seized me and prevailed..." As an Old Testament professor once said, deceived is a "soft translation." Deceived, should be raped. But you never hear that story in Sunday school.

I once preached a sermon in Indiana where I read the passage where Jesus said that "his burden is easy and his yoke is light." I followed up by saying, "yeah right!" Had I been bolder I think the better phrase would have been, bullshit.

There is nothing about this world that seams easy - and I say that having lived on both sides of the faith continuum. Why is there so much pain if an Omnibenevolent Being is behind it?

Here's the truth, I don't know.

As much as I love Robert Frost's poem, I think there are really three roads that can be taken in life.

There are those who take the road of naiveté. They say things like, "all works out for the good in the end" or "evil is just a byproduct of a fallen and imperfect world." Meanwhile ignoring the true sense of injustice in the world. Not recognizing that there is legitimate, undeserved suffering in the world.

There still others that say fuck it. They take the road of bitterness. There can't be a God. They don't understand evil, it makes no sense, therefore the only logical conclusion is there is no intelligence or compassion behind this world. Meanwhile ignoring the good that some how comes from nowhere, and the beauty all around us, and all the benevolence that can be generated by them.

And then there is the third road. This road gets traveled the least. It is a road that freely admits they don't have any answers on this one - but wish they did. It is a road that doesn't offer up cheesy clichés in the face of injustice or sorrow, but will cry with you when it happens. It is a road that doesn't become bitter at the evils society face, but recognizes there is work to be done to help overcome them. It is a road that humbles, but also empowers one to do something about it - even if little impact can be made - which is tough to accept.

And while I know the one taken less, I freely admit I do not know which will make all the difference in the end. But I know which one I have chosen.

I once went to Juarez, Mexico with 40 other people to build 2 houses in about 25 hours. It was July and if memory serves me correct it was 195°. It was crazy and exhausting.

We had laid the foundation. Put up the studs and drywall. Spackled. Etc. All that was left was to lay the roof. All I had to do was bend the shingles over the roof and nail them to the side of the house. Simple right?

Well I think I am doing just a fabulous job and one of the adult leaders - who mind you built his own house with his bare hands - comes up and says, "you've been working hard, why don't you take a break."

I retreat off the ladder and grab a Sprite from the cooler. About five minutes later I look over and see the adult leader ripping out what I had just done!

That's right folks, I sucked so bad at handiwork that it wasn't good enough for an impoverished family who before we showed up didn't have a home. Pretty humbling, huh?

Now I don't blame this youth leader. He was right to do it. The worked suck - despite my hard efforts. The lesson was simple: I am not good at construction.

Fast-forward 10 years later.

I buy a house. And while I have to admit I was a little nervous about the financials (who isn't?), I was more nervous about the fact that I am not real handy around the home.

It's been great though. Since buying the house I have:

• Installed a bathroom faucet
• Installed fingerprint locks
• Installed garage shelves (no pics)
• Installed a kitchen faucet

But nothing like this. You may remember the horrendous day I had back in August.

$1,100 dollars later, I had a fixed air conditioner, a de-molded ceiling and wall, and a giant hole in my ceiling.

After getting sick of spending so much money I decided to try and patch the giant hole myself. So I went to Home Depot and bought what I thought I needed. And at last, the project is done. It looks good. Not great. But good.





Two conclusions came from the project: First, I hate popcorn ceiling now more than ever. I almost didn't buy the house because of it. It aesthetically looks awful. However, I hate it even more now as it is near impossible to spread to match the current ceiling - and was surprisingly the hardest part of this project.

But the more important lesson is how important it is to do things that help us overcome our insecurities. I freely admit I legitimately feel like less of a man because of my lack of handyman skills.

Maybe I shouldn't. And I am not saying all men need to be Mr. Fix-It. Nor should they feel insecure if they aren't. But I do. And it has been very affirming completing these projects.

We all think about our insecurities a lot - that's what makes them insecurities - but how much time do with think about what needs to be done to overcome them?

There have been some heavy posts recently, and it's Friday, so I thought I would lighten it up a bit. I have been meaning to do this post for almost 2 years.

Most of you know I don't drink alcohol because I know I would be an alcoholic. There are a few reasons I know this to be true, but one of them is that I drink like a fish. Those poor waitresses at restaurants will usually refill my glass of Pepsi four times a meal. I am a good tipper - I promise.

Now, because I don't drink alcohol I have become somewhat of a connoisseur of other beverages: mainly Lemonade and CranApple juice.

Believe it or not Kroger generic brand is the best CranApple juice out there. It beats OceanSpray - which is good. Everything else out there sucks hardcore.

That is except for Minute Maid Cranberry Apple Cocktail. But here's the problem. I can never find it anywhere except while flying above 10,000 feet and served by a flight attendant (the nice ones make my day by offering the whole can). It doesn't matter if I fly Delta, United or American - they all have it.

This stuff is so freaking good, but all attempts to find it on the ground have been futile.



This picture was taken aboard my United flight from Tokyo back in April of 2006. But this stuff was still around per my last flight on Delta from Midway in November. So I know it's still being made.

So here is what I want to know. Has anybody seen this anywhere besides on a plane? If you can lead me to a sustainable source of this exact drink - not Cranberry Raspberry Apple (see that all the time) or Cranberry Grape - there will definitely be a hefty prize awaiting you.

Have a great Friday.

No, I did not have this same thought. But I do often wonder if some of us have crazy, illogical talents that we don't know about just because God wanted a little fun and disorder in this world.

Think about it. What if this little girl did have the ability to change stoplights. And she loved it. But God was so moved by her desire to give up her super-power just to save her parents marriage that he intervened.

But on a more general note...

...What if somebody only breathes when they think about it because they don't really need oxygen to live, but they don't know this, and they breathe just because everybody else does it.

Or...if someone could actually survive jumping off a cliff or a building because their bones don't break

Or...if someone could "jump" from one place to another anywhere in this world (yes I know that is a movie, but I ran out of ideas and I am not that creative).

I definitely think if I were God I would build some of these anomalies into culture just to see if anybody would figure it out.

Be sure to visit Post Secret for more interesting looks into the human condition.

Ohh...and one more thing. I created a secret and sent it in. We'll see if/when he puts it up.

I often feel like the least forgiving place in this world is the place that should be the most. As the saying goes, "the church seems to shoot their wounded."

This saddens me how few people recognize how imperfect we all are, and how all sin is equal in the eyes of God. When will we try to be as forgiving as God.

I know I can't post them all, but if you follow Post Secret, you will be astonished how many of them are about carrying around guilt and shame years - sometimes even decades - after something happened.

...Women who are vegans because egg yolks remind them of their abortions

...Men who feel bad about the way they treated people in high school

...First time sexual experiences that were not what they expected

...Mothers missing their daughters because they don't speak after and event

...Fathers knowing they should never have left their kids

...Business deals that fell through

...Friends mistreating and taking advantage of other friends

Stop carrying the guilt around with you. God forgives - even if we don't.

Be sure to visit Post Secret for more interesting looks into the human condition.

My mother used to tell me every time I wouldn't feet the cat or when I would throw stones at the geese in our yard that "it has been proven that those who torture animals become serial killers." I knew from a young age that logic was wrong. Classic example of if A implies B, B doesn't necessarily imply A.

Just because serial killers probably tortured animals, doesn't mean those who torture animals become serial killers. Thank you post secret for reaffirming my thoughts on this topic.

Although.....on a side note, I do wonder more than I should if I could kill someone and get away with it. I am pretty sure I could. But I think that thought is more of a challenge to our legal system than it is a true desire to end someone's life. But then again, maybe mom was right all along.

Be sure to visit Post Secret for more interesting looks into the human condition.

I started snow skiing when I was 3 years old. Since then I have skied at 9 of the 28 ski resorts in Colorado - including Vail (boo!), Aspen (good), and Snowmass (my favorite). At least once every time I get on a chair lift the thought of jumping - and my pending survival - crosses my mind.

No really sure why to be honest?

But the same rings true when I approach cliffs. I don't think it is that I am suicidal or anything. But there is always something in the back of my head saying, just try it, you'll probably live.

Needless to say, I stay away from cliffs. But I am looking forward to a Colorado ski trip with Cassie (my sister) in February.

Be sure to visit Post Secret for more interesting looks into the human condition.