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They say you should call your mom on your birthday to thank her for life. Today I turned 26, and I called mom to let her know how much I love her. If you think about it, you could dedicate your whole birthday to your mom and dad.

My spiritual life has been pretty rough over the past couple months, so I decided to go to XLT tonight. I’ve been traveling so much this fall, and I was pretty emotionally spent. I didn’t know whether I wanted to go to XLT tonight, but it seemed like the right thing to do. Tonight when I prayed, I didn’t have anything to say or any warm fuzzies. I just showed up and gave God permission to do whatever he wanted.

After XLT Candyce and I came home. I was hoping to spend the rest of the night with her, but a friend stopped by to see my car. He’s a new youth minister, and he’s had a rough time. I don’t get to see him often, so Candyce and I caught up with him.; Soon it was past midnight and time for everyone to go home.

Now I am sitting here in bed, trying to figure out why my birthday was so uneventful. But oh well, I am thankful to have so many friends and to be able to spend time with them.

Early this morning I finished my fifth John Grisham book, “The Client.” It was the longest book I’ve read, and it was by far the best. In the last pages of the book, the plot turned towards my own city: Phoenix. I closed the book and turned off the light. As I snuggled into my pillow, I couldn’t help but wonder if the characters from the book were living in my own neighborhood.

So far, I’ve been to every city he’s mentioned in the books: Memphis, New Orleans, Washington DC, Biloxi, Phoenix, New York, Rapid City, and Rockford. It’s exciting when I’m reading a book and all of a sudden the plot turns into the city that I happened to be in at the moment.

For years I only ready how-to or religious books, so it’s been fun to try something new and read novels. My newest goal is to start reading the top 100 books of all time. If I could read just twenty-five out of the hundred, people will think I am well-read and smart. I know this is vain for my to confess, but I figure I’d just get it out in the open and be done with it.

I will be 26-years-old in two days, and I am seeing how my archive of “cool things to know” builds each year. It’s all knowledge from having too much time and money. I know the vintage furniture market better than anyone I know. I have an impressive collection in my own home that pleases hipsters of all kinds.

When it’s time to leave my swank house for something to eat, I know the best restaurants in every part of town. I could tell you where to find the best of everything: Greek, Indian, deli, pizzeria, romantic patio, casual date, fantastic views, etc.

I know all about local art galleries, loft districts, up and coming neighborhoods, and evolution of rock ‘n’ roll. I’ve hung out in the coolest parts of town in almost every American city. I know the best beaches in Southern California.

I don’t know. I guess I’ve arrived at unspoken goals in my life, and now that I’ve achieved them, I wonder what I missed.

I am at a coffee shop trying to sort out my thoughts as I type. Basically, I’ve been experimenting on how to take a day off.

Most of the time I just try to straighten up my; domestic life: pay bills, clean house, do laundry. Doing these unexciting things in life that keep you humble. Once that’s done, I look around for another mission to conquer before the day ends.; I am on my third day of this long weekend, and I haven’t accomplished anything.

I’ve slept in till at least ten for three days now. Normally I would be disgusted to associate myself with late-sleepers. I have a life unlike hung-over frat boys, lazy high schoolers, and Waffle House cooks. So it is with great embarrassment that I confess how late I’ve slept. Today, I slept in till eleven! Why? Because I need it.

I have traveled almost every weekend for the past three months. That’s over 30,000 miles to gives talks to 10,000 people. It’s so demanding! Once my plane lands back here in Phoenix, I go to the studio and get back to work. To use the familiar analogy, I’ve been burning the candle at both ends. My only goal is to relax.

This Thanksgiving I told myself I was going to slow down so I could find new things to think about. Normally my days off are committed to accomplishing tangible things, like doing my laundry or working on my car. So I decided not to do any of that, but try to free up some space in my brain to be inspired.

So today is Thanksgiving. I joined Candyce’s family at their grandparent’s home here in Phoenix. Two of Candyce’s friends from ASU joined us because their family was too far away. It was really beautiful to see them really feel at home with Candyce’s family.

Once dinner was over, everyone slid into soft chairs in the living room and started watching Batman. I was excited because they bad guys were driving cars that look like my ‘54 Bel Air. My mind started to sparkle with ideas, so I stretched out on the bed in the guest bedroom and let my mind wander.

Right now my mind is not focused on new missions. I already have plenty of cool missions that I have not accomplished. I know that they are worth fighting for, and I will accomplish them soon. So instead of thinking of goals, I focused on how to accomplish goals. Because once you get in the habit of achieving goals, then next habit you ned to is to make sure each new goal is more ambitious than the last.

After letting my imagination run wild, I realize that ambition by itself is inherently shallow. It’s almost always coupled with greed and vanity. In the material world, that’s not a problem, but in the world of ministry it is a grave problem. I can’t expect God to sit back and applaud my ambition. It is absolutely crucial that I pray. Otherwise, I’m just another male out to conquer an empire. Prayer tempers ambition.

There are two kinds of people in this world: life-sucking and life-giving. First, lets talk about the people who suck.

Some people exist only to suck the life out of others. You don’t know they suck when you first meet them, but over time you wonder why it takes so much energy just to hang out with ‘em. You feel like you always have to entertain them and make sure they are having a good time. They make sure that they are never impressed with anything, so you feel like you are obligated to please them. They play chit chat games:; Why haven’t you called me? We should hang out sometime!;

I’ve had life-sucking people as my close friends, but I also deal with life-sucking teenagers at my church. I go to church and try to help out, I end up getting trapped by needy teenagers. They suck the life out of me and I have nothing left to give anyone else.

These type of teenagers never grow up and learn from their lessons. They are just a messy people that we’re trying to escort through high school with out a disaster.; If a youth group becomes a Needy Teen Club, it will soon end because one side gives, and the other side takes away.

Then there are life-giving people. They give more than they take. They always look on the bright side. They take responsibility for their decisions. They are independent, but enjoy spending time with others. It doesn’t matter how old or young they are, you still look up to them. They are magnetic!

At our church’s youth group, these are the teenagers that keep everyone alive. They don’t demand attention. They don’t come to life nights to be entertained. They come to share their life with others and to learn about God.

Summary. I will continue to spend time with everyone, whether they suck of not. But, my closest group of friends will only be life-giving.