tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-214463212011-04-21T14:05:33.049-04:00mi nov·el li-fe (n) 1. a non-fictional work in progress with an often complex plot, divinely sliced into seasons, in which my story develops through the thoughts and actions of its characters and the world around him, exactly how the author intends...- jwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08408328019195661215noreply@blogger.comBlogger271100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21446321.post-16926274024621249482008-08-29T10:00:00.002-04:002008-08-31T18:50:31.567-04:00

I bet from the title you probably are wondering is "jw" going political on me!?  Is he about to share his views on immigration reform?  No.  My wife is a Nebraska Husker fan.  When we first met she had a Harry the Husker sticker on her car.  I didn't hold it against her, but I was dead set on converting her to a Georgia Fan.  I mean the truth is, she could care less about Nebraska football.  I

- jwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08408328019195661215noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21446321.post-56386092337243837072008-04-21T11:14:00.005-04:002008-04-21T11:45:27.804-04:00

When shepherding numerous hurting people, CAUTION! they can all begin to look the same. Beware of coming off to hurting people like a routine appointment.  Remember this is the most important thing in their world even if it is not yours.  The last thing someone suffering a loss wants to feel from you is that it is your 4 loss of the day.  These routine visits often brush over some important

- jwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08408328019195661215noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21446321.post-80768969309800375212008-04-16T09:45:00.002-04:002008-04-16T09:54:37.282-04:00

Here's a tip on Shepherding: Where Cotton.  Why?  Because its comfortable.  It flexes if you are bending down low, like laying on the ground or kneeling.  Its durable for wrestling and pulling.  If you were to be in a situation that meant you staying in one place for a long time and not being able to have your normal routine of changing clothes, I suggest cotton.  It also soaks up tears quite

- jwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08408328019195661215noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21446321.post-51378631895764232008-04-14T11:38:00.005-04:002008-04-14T14:15:38.992-04:00

I just got back from New York. I attended a conference organized by the fermi project. This is a group who works very hard at bringing together a mixed bag of culture innovators and cultural misfits like myself for a conversation.  Most always the conversations hover around social justice issues and the church.  It is incredibly challenging stuff.    This morning a spent some time studying

- jwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08408328019195661215noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21446321.post-47549739313307907332008-03-21T08:52:00.002-04:002008-03-21T09:04:54.091-04:00

How do you approach a day where your life was surely supposed to end, but didn't. The only reason you didn't die was because someone else rescued you and forfeited His own life in the process. I suppose you would wake up like I did this morning and breath in and remember that someone else died today so I could have that breath and that next one to. We celebrate this Friday because we didn't

- jwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08408328019195661215noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21446321.post-17322014642658568922007-11-02T10:05:00.000-04:002007-11-02T11:20:14.080-04:00

Everyone can point to a buddy list, your facebook page or, the "Five" on your phone to quickly prove that you have friends. Buddies you can chat with. Pals you can call for a movie from time to time. Do they watch your pet while your out of town? Maybe they get your mail. They share things with you and you with them, decorating your walls at home and helping to mark holidays and special

- jwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08408328019195661215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21446321.post-15753789542895824822007-10-08T05:38:00.000-04:002007-10-08T05:41:54.212-04:00

I am in London for the week. I visited speaker’s corner today at Hyde Park. A speaker, Eddie, had a notebook full of disturbing images from the American civil rights movement. These images did not speak very highly of those who stood by as these atrocities took place. As many Christians were gathered he began to yell at us. “How dare you gather and speak poorly of someone else’s beliefs.” “

- jwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08408328019195661215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21446321.post-81954434679735031412007-10-02T11:54:00.000-04:002007-10-02T12:20:42.485-04:00

Let me start by saying October is by far my favorite time of the year. I love the weather, college football is in its prime, its my birth month (so I get presents), and finally Baseball is at its peak. My mother says the world series was on when she was in the hospital having me, so my love affair with America's Favorite Pastime has truly been life-long. This year has had some extra drama.

- jwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08408328019195661215noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21446321.post-26424767530412868632007-09-05T11:51:00.000-04:002007-09-05T23:06:25.554-04:00

There have been plenty of television shows and movies depicting life in high school and various of stages of life. The Wonder Years, Sixteen Candles, Napolean Dynamite, and Teen Wolf were just a few movies that spoke of the pressures and struggles of growing up. The reason why these shows were so successful was our ability to relate to them. As we watch Kevin treat Paul badly we relate

- jwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08408328019195661215noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21446321.post-19899833887081360702007-08-26T19:23:00.000-04:002007-08-26T19:24:44.838-04:00

I just upgraded to iLife 08 and wanted to try out the new iMovie. I used some photos from my recent trip to India. Enjoy!

- jwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08408328019195661215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21446321.post-33462059181558778182007-08-14T13:23:00.000-04:002007-08-14T14:42:45.161-04:00

I just created a facebook page. In the course of an hour I had reconnected with over 10 friends that I had not talked to in over 10 years. I have possible plans to go to the Alabama/Georgia game with a couple of these friends. I am beginning to see that joining Facebook could possibly replace facetime altogether. I have had several requests from coworkers and close friends to be my "friends."

- jwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08408328019195661215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21446321.post-89328647245011052232007-08-05T23:02:00.000-04:002007-08-05T23:03:05.374-04:00

This is some scratch video from my visit to Speaker's Corner while in London.

- jwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08408328019195661215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21446321.post-61185762160639275422007-07-22T14:44:00.001-04:002007-07-22T14:55:09.486-04:00

I visited Speaker's Corner. I will try to post the video at some point. Very interesting. Muslims getting up blasting Christians, Christians getting up explaining the truths about Islam. Debating back and forth. It was something else. It was apologetics like you have never experienced. These Christians have been sharpened by some of the best and speak powerfully against the darkness and

- jwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08408328019195661215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21446321.post-5008240451320636632007-07-09T15:34:00.000-04:002007-07-09T16:06:47.762-04:00

We had a meeting the other day with our team. We went around the room and told everyone why we were going on this trip. As soon as we began I flashed back about 7 years earlier when our Africa team did the same thing. The exercise went very much the same way. Everyone goes around the room and tells how excited they are about going and what they think God is going to teach them while they are

- jwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08408328019195661215noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21446321.post-89197500873688878912007-06-26T08:02:00.000-04:002007-06-26T13:42:47.418-04:00

If you talked to those who know me best, at some point it would come around to the fact that I am not a sensitive person. It influences who comes to me for councel, mentorship, accountability, etc. Being insensitive gives me some kind of X-ray vision to see through certain screens and walls that get built up. Those who come to me usually like that about me because it is what they need. I have

- jwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08408328019195661215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21446321.post-23971499796008399182007-06-08T12:27:00.001-04:002007-06-08T12:35:57.826-04:00

One of the best TV series I have ever seen was the HBO series, Band of Brothers. It followed the 101st Airborne thru all of World War II. You met them when they showed up for training in Toccoa, Georgia and followed them to the very end of the war. The great thing you see in the series are the relationships that are built over the course of the war. You begin to understand that these

- jwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08408328019195661215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21446321.post-34477294338599849572007-06-07T08:38:00.000-04:002007-06-07T08:53:39.450-04:00

John Wycliffe, Jacob Arminius, John Calvin, St. Augustine, John Knox, Thomas More. I could keep going, but the idea is that our heritage runs deep and much of it comes from Europe. As I googled “church in London,” I found a very interesting and telling result. All of the churches had a very rich history page, but not much more in the way of current growth or progress. It seems that churches

- jwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08408328019195661215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21446321.post-50003993205228716322007-05-28T08:08:00.000-04:002007-05-29T13:21:11.617-04:00

Many of you might not know that while we were in Africa in 2000 we lost one of our teammates in a car accident. His name was Chris Tuck and he was one of my roommates that summer. I did not know him before we started our training, but got to know him pretty well that summer. He attended Georgia College and State University in Milledgeville.It was the 1st of July, 2000. We started driving

- jwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08408328019195661215noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21446321.post-66918918954405282472007-05-17T11:57:00.000-04:002007-05-17T12:23:58.598-04:00

I have always wanted to stand in front of tons of screaming people and yell out HELLO __________! (Fill in the city we are in). Then listen to them as crazy gets crazier. Perhaps I should have been a rock star instead of a church worship leader. I will put that one in the folder "Dreams yet to be realized." Welcome newcomers to My Novel Life. Perhaps you got a letter soliciting money and

- jwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08408328019195661215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21446321.post-13435197603460455512007-03-22T15:47:00.000-04:002007-03-22T15:44:23.597-04:00

Do you have any suggestions for Mr. Da Vinci before he wraps this one up? Perhaps a more distinct smile for Mona? Maybe you could clear up the questions surrounding who the subject is. Is it supposed to be a self portrait? Maybe you could write "This is me" across the bottom to clear up the mystery surrounding its subject." Do you think Leonardo heard any of these comments as he was working

- jwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08408328019195661215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21446321.post-52453606099361626472007-03-12T15:17:00.000-04:002007-03-19T14:25:47.389-04:00

There was an interesting article written about Angelina Jolie recently in Newsweek. Do read the article if you have a spare 5 minutes. No heavy media coverage, no entourage. She gets on a commercial airline by herself. Spends weeks in these villages visiting the sick often not saying anything, but helping to unload trucks as well as other menial tasks. The photos taken here were of her recent

- jwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08408328019195661215noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21446321.post-64895882389838361442007-03-01T14:49:00.000-05:002007-03-01T21:16:35.855-05:00

Did you ever play Clue as a kid? The conclusions were always simple. After a bit, you would make the declaration with certainty Col. Mustard in the library with the wrench. Then you opened the small brown envelope only for confirmation. In that game it was always clear and straightforward. Unlike the show CSI which looks for ways to try and fool you each week on how the death occurred and who did

- jwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08408328019195661215noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21446321.post-1169068583876651342007-01-17T16:14:00.000-05:002007-02-27T16:53:48.352-05:00

My brother and I saw this a long time ago. For some reason we were talking about the lion character the other day and it got me looking for it. I have been wanting to set up a camera just to see what my dog does all day. By the way she acts when I get home she must sleep all day.

- jwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08408328019195661215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21446321.post-1144695940986508972006-04-10T14:41:00.000-04:002006-07-13T15:54:33.396-04:00

Singing to the Deaftalent was not always a requirement. I got my first guitar when I was a sophomore in high school and after contorting my seemingly useless hand into multiple odd and uncomfortable shapes slicing my perfectly soft fingertips over the cutting brass strings I sat it down for about a year. Constant prodding from my brother and a drive to be able to sing and play like others I

- jwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08408328019195661215noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21446321.post-1141152067079367162006-02-28T12:59:00.000-05:002006-04-19T10:21:05.533-04:00

"A picture is worth a thousand words..." I am sure you have heard that before. I have been thinking about that a little over the past few days, which prompted this writing. I was sitting next to my wife this past Sunday afternoon at a cheerleading banquet honoring all those who had participated in some form or another this past year. The center piece of the afternoon was a thirty minute video

- jwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08408328019195661215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21446321.post-1138293550365031382006-01-26T10:54:00.000-05:002006-01-26T11:39:10.386-05:00

When I lived in Daytona during the summer of 1998 I worked at McDonald’s. Without fail, everyday a group of construction workers would walk in for lunch, you know the group, 8 men crammed into a truck that has been stretched like a limo to provide enough doors and space for the whole crew. These men, dusty and bleeding from a morning already filled with enough labor to constitute a “day’s work,”

- jwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08408328019195661215noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21446321.post-1138123504697645682006-01-24T15:25:00.000-05:002006-09-07T10:10:46.640-04:00

My Novel Life, Table Of Contents...nov·el1 n1. a fictional prose work with a relatively long and often complex plot, usually divided into chapters, in which the story traditionally develops through the thoughts and actions of its characters Ok, maybe its not fictional but it is definitely complex. It has chapters, or better said, seasons..And so the story of my life continues to unfold here in

- jwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08408328019195661215noreply@blogger.com4