evan mcbroom THE OTHER SIDE of the boat

Take the first step

Do you have an overwhelming task?  Are you faced with a challenge too big to tackle?  Do you have a Goliath sized to-do list and not a single stone in your sling?  I feel that way right now.  I've got some things...mostly just annoyingly detailed tasky-tasks that need doing.  They need starting.  But I don't feel I have the go-juice to get 'em done. And so...I look around me to find some measure of inspiration to get off my jeans pockets and knock 'em out. 

Take this moment for instance.  This is me on Saturday a few minutes after the completion of my first half marathon.  13.1 miles.  Official time 2 hours, 05 minutes, 52.8 seconds. I finished 69th in my age bracket.  No records here...but it was a big day for me.

A bigger day?  January 1, 2008.  The morning I started walking. In a post dated February 1, 2008, I tell of my first month of walking.  75 miles in a month.  Those first early morning steps 22 months ago set in motion a series of events that led to Saturday's finish.  I would say that the decision to get out of bed and walk was harder than the decision to run the final mile on Saturday.  It wasn't glamorous to get out of bed.  There was no cheering crowd and certainly no medal waiting for me at the finish...but the first step was the first step. 

What's the first step you need to take to get the big task off your list.  I've got mine...I'm gonna go take it now.

My Biggest Interview Ever... Buzz Aldrin!

I get to do some pretty fun stuff in my life.  Interviewing Buzz Aldrin is near the top of the list...and at the top of the list of people I've been honored to meet. I've been in Atlanta this week working with my old company at the CEDIA Expo and serve as a reporter on a convention TV channel shown throughout the convention center and in 24,000 downtown Atlanta hotel rooms.  The work is a blast, the work covers a lot of Fishhook expenses, it's a great time to be with my old friends from The Sanders Group and CEDIA. Here's an example of how I've spent this week...getting to interview Buzz Aldrin!

If at first you don't suceed, tri, tri again

About a month ago, I was scheduled to run my first triathlon.  It was to be the pay-off for 18 months of slowly getting into, out of and back into shape.  In January 2008 I started walking.  By June 2008 I started running, a few mailboxes at a time. I was losing weight and feeling great.  In August 2008 my father passed away and I lost my rhythm and by January 1, 2009 I was at an all time high on the scales at 206 pounds.  I started running again. 

In July I was to compete in my first triathlon.  My wife Debbie inspired me as she competed her first one this spring.  The morning of my event came and I was ready.  Months of running, riding and swimming had me primed.  But an accident with a bungee cord the morning of the race landed me in the ER.  While loading the bikes on the rack, the bungee slipped from my hand and recoiled into my eye.  Through the mystery of the Vasovagel response I passed out repeatedly and my triathlon day was finished before it started. 

And so, after a procedure to repair a tear in my retina, I laced up my shoes, climbed on my bike and got back in the pool and continued my training.  And with my "eye" on the prize of completing the race, I finished 368th out of 600 competitors this past Saturday.  And oddly, the satisfaction was sweeter for all the bumps along the way. 

There's a handful of lessons I draw personally from the experience but perhaps the greatest I can share is to be encouraged in discouraging circumstances that the finish line still awaits and when we falter (physically, spiritually, emotionally...) we can pick ourselves up, ask God to help us get on our feet, and continue on toward our destination. 

What's out in front of you that seems to get farther and farther away? Keep on.  Tri again.

PS: Thanks to Fishhook's Jenn Stump for hanging out at the finish line.  Her husband Brian was competing too and she kindly captured this moment.  You need to check out Jenn's blog for her photography business.  Incredible. 

My Lesson from the Emergency Room

 

On Saturday I was to compete in my first triathlon.  I was pumped.  My wife and I were going to do the same event and we'd had a great time training for it.  At 6:00AM the morning of, as I was loading the bikes on our SUV's bike rack, a bungee cord slipped from my grip, striking my eye - ending my hopes of competing that day.  Through the mystery of the Vasovagal reaction - I passed out repeatedly and ended up in the ER - both to deal with the eye injury and to determine if there were deeper issues causing me to black-out.  My triathlon that day included an ambulance ride, a EKG and a CAT scan.  All checked out fine.

 A photo of my eye - (caution -it's a little graphic) View this photo

There are numerous lessons I drew that day including the irony of working hard to get in shape as a response to my fathers' passing a year prior only to spend my big day in the same ER he frequented his last year of life.  There's a lesson in perseverance, in overcoming discouragement and many lessons in being grateful - my injury could have been much worse and all indications are that my eye will be fine. 

Having done a little research on the topic (try googling "bungee cord eye injuries") I've learned that these devices, which I've relied on for years, recoil at speeds up to 60 MPH and do lead to the loss of sight in many people every year.  So, my biggest lesson, and the one I encourage you to learn from, is throw away your bungee cords.  Use rope.  Use safer devices.  I was probably 1/4" away from losing sight in my left eye.  Today, when you go home, go to your garage and throw them away and when you do, thank God for Evan's left eye.  I'm sure I will every time I tie a knot in a piece of rope.

My spiritual journey exposed - how ironic

How ironic.  In this month's "Fresh Catch" (Fishhook's 6x year free e-source for church communicators) we were talking about how to develop your volunteer ministry.  This weekend, I got to serve as a volunteer in my own church in a big way.  I delivered the message in all four services.  It was a great experience (for me at least).  At times...outta body.  At others, totally aware of every breath.  The message dives deep into my own spiritual journey.  I'm thankful to be part of a church that really lets people roll up their sleeves in significant ways. Take a listen...and let me know...which face in the crowd are you?

Select 6/21 Faces in the Crowd at this link

My blog needs a swift kick in the...

Go ahead.  Finish the sentence.  For the record, I was thinking "groin."  I would kick it in the backside (dare I say "ass?") but I don't think that would fully get it's attention.  Yes, a swift kick to the groin is what this blog needs. Trust me...kick me in the butt and I'll notice you, kick me in the groin and I'll do whatever you tell me to do.

This week, I'm feeding my brain.  I looked at my calendar and saw a little lighter load than normal and thought, "McBroom, you're stale."  Feed your brain with some fresh insight.  The food for the week is Seth Godin's Tribes (see how stale my thinking is...EVERYBODY has read Tribes already).  At my friend Ed Bahler'smention, I decided to sign up for Alltop.com and I built a MyAlltop pagethat, for now, includes info for small business owners (non church fresh ideas) and blogging.  The first blogging stuff I noodled on Copyblogger and this post by Jonathan Morrow.The post says I should "shoot my blog."  Since I don't own a gun, but I do have a pair of steel-toe work boots, I decided I'd give mine a swift kick.  I hope to fulfill this promise: change is a'comin.  And I hope, change for the good.

What I'm discovering this week (it's only Tuesday, but I officially started this on Saturday) is that I'm not sure after 2 years of blogging that I've found my voice or my focus for my blog, for Twitter, for Facebook, for the Fishhook Facebook fan page...and on and on.

It's my hope that new insight, and the thinking that follows, brings clarity, more fun and more...(whatever else I discover I need more of.)

My credit card is gonna miss Michigan

The image is burned in my mind. 17 summer vacations in Northern Michigan - first with my wife and later with our family.  An annual retreat that brought creation and recreation together.  I cherish these weeks and anticipate their return...but not this year.

For summer 2009, my family and my credit card are taking a different vaction. Oh, we'll miss days on the lake. Excursions to the marina to fill up the gas tank. All-you-can-eat Walleye dinners. The smell of go-carts and thrill of mini-golf. But come the end of the summer, while my credit card may have missed it's trip, I will not miss the hangover brought by added debt. This summer, my credit card will stay home. If it's good, I'll let it out a little.  Maybe a one day trip for water park fun at Holiday World, or a jaunt to the hardware store.  But this summer, my card and myself...we'll hang at home and if we miss Michigan greatly, we'll look at photos, tell stories and dream sweet dreams. 

How about you? Do you and your credit card have different plans this summer?

My wife rocks!!!

Name: Debbie Occupation: Preschool Teacher Age: 45 Today's Accomplishment: Finished her first sprint triathlon. The Carmel Splash, Flash and Dash

Am I Keeping God in my Social Network?

I recall a couple years ago being at home and hearing the phone ring. As I glanced at the caller ID, my wife said, "who is it?" When I told her who was calling, we both cringed and perhaps I rolled my eyes.  It had been a long day already and we both knew that the person calling would be a drain to talk to.  I said, "I'm letting it go to voice mail...I don't have the 'relationship energy' for this call right now."  That label- "relationship energy" - has lived on in our house and it has come to clearly describe what it takes to have an interaction - positive or negative, uplifting or draining. Each conversation is either pouring in or pouring out (OK a few are probably neutral).  And I would contend that we only have so much relationship energy to go around, there is not an endless supply and some people have more while others have less.  I have a lot.  I'm not boasting, it's just a fact, I have a lot of energy to pour into people.  (remembering that I made up the phrase allows me this self-assessment without challenge).

Enter Facebook, Twitter and other social networking opportunities.  Eureka!  A new and exciting place to pour out and pour into my abundant relationship energy.  Add this to email and cell phone and a iPhone that allows be to engage in this energy swap any time and anywhere...and I should be celebrating.  Much of the time I do.  But this day I am considering a question:

Am I keeping God in my social network and am I focusing enough relationship energy toward Him?

Simple answer. No. I'm finding that what used to be the content of quick prayer exchanges becomes content for status updates. Pouring out confessing thoughts or pondering questions with God have become reduced to 140 characters of carefully crafted abbreviations and phrases. 

Perhaps as alarming is being in the room with my family or friends - live and in-person - and realizing  through my peripheral vision that they are waiting for a reply from me while I am typing with tweezer like accuracy on my mobile apps. 

So Facebook friends and Twitter circle I shall continue to update and tweet and interact, but I'm going to try to be more mindful of some even greater social circles...the ones that allow conversations with God and those I love the most - my family.  Even for me, there's only so much relationship energy to go around. And spending time with God and family are worthy of more focus than I'm giving them these days.

Thoughts?

My iPhone...learning to trust and obey

I was lost.  I was about to be late.  I knew I was heading north on Randall Road from 88 to First Baptist Church Geneva, IL but my iPhone Google Maps application said I had wandered 10 miles south.  And while I was in unfamiliar territory, I was as sure as I could be that I was right and the iPhone was wrong. 

I thought, perhaps there's something funky about the cell towers in the area.  Maybe my software had gone goofy.  Something was wrong but I was sure that I was right.  I was not trusting the thing that had faithfully navigated me around Chicago for the previous 36 hours and had proven faithful over the past 8 months.  I was confident in myself and the compass in my head.  The clock was ticking and I was going to be late...and panic set in. 

At times, my spiritual life can look the same way.   

As I reflect back on my navigation errors I realize that, in my haste to get to my appointment, I made a wrong turn.  Google said "left" and I went right.  Google said "north" and I went south.  And the farther off-course I got, the LESS I turned to the very thing that could have gotten me back on track.  I trusted self.

God, help me to not be driving so fast in life that I make a wrong turn.  Help me know that if I'm feeling lost I probably am.  Help me learn to stop. Turn to you.  Trust you. And find my right course again.