A PERSONAL PSALM

There is so much I want to say and yet the words are not readily available. As if my head and heart have been blocked from communication. At times like these, I press forward with the "pen" so to speak. in hopes that the blockade will break and the words pour forth more freely.

Robert Frost wrote: "something there is that does not love a wall.." I could not lay my hands on the poem but as I remember it he talked of how the frozen ground will swell and send the upper boulders of the wall tumbling to the earth. It is as if the earth rebels against the building of a wall between neighbors. Robert Frost captures the human delimit. We build walls for protection, only to discover that they need constant repair and in the end, for the most part must be torn down all together so that we can live in community. We were never intended to live alone.

The grand discovery of life is when independence slams into the broken heart. When we discover that we need outside of ourselves we are closer to God than ever before. Very recently. I have had the collision. My independence has slammed into brokenness. At the point of this writing , I am not sure what the outcome will be. save a deeper. closer walk with God.

I have been here before, it is familiar ground. The shadow of the mountain looms over me as I walk through the valley. God has upset my wall. Its boulders are tumbling down. There are new paths for me to walk and this is my motivation. I have nothing to go back too. I have no more walls to hide behind.

Stripped of title. old friendship, security. one can only present oneself. I have talents, abilities, accolades, but in a new place these things are unknown and unproven. Somehow it is good to be in this place. God's voice is more easily heard, there are fewer distractions. A familiar hope is stirring within a desire to reconnect with original purpose. I am closer to God now and it is comforting.

What is just over the mountain? My mission and purpose are moving me forward and I am grateful for the valley as I press for the mountain top.

The Winds of Change

As the fall approaches we are reminded by nature that change is inevitable. The winds of change are blowing across our nation right now stronger than ever before. In just a few years since 9-11 we have seen sweeping change. The way we board an Airplane. The way we look at one another. The way we view national security and so many, many more.
The country I grew up in is vastly different today. My parents never worried about what I was doing on the Internet. I had a small TV in my bedroom and my parents never worried what I was watching on it. At midnight every station played the national anthem and went off the air with an annoying high pitched sound.
I listened to AM radio at night to hear my favorite college team play and then to music that was DJ'd by Wolfman Jack. My parents never worried about what I listened to on the Radio. My brother and I played outdoors mostly, we walked all over town and if we got far enough away from home a hometown citizen would offer to give us a ride home. We left our house un-locked, our cars un-locked and our bikes sitting out in our front yard. The next day they were still there.
It is so much harder to parent today. We work hard to keep up with what is going on in our children's lives. My son was doing a school assignment a couple of years ago that required Internet research. He mis-typed the mans last name and a porn site popped up. We monitor our kids on the Internet. block offensive sites and keep that computer in a public place in the home. We saw what had happened within a few minutes. He felt ashamed and was in tears as we talked with him but it was not his fault.
We are under attack on many fronts in America. Just a few days ago, Disney had to fire a young woman who had a bright future with them because she sent her boyfriend explicit pictures of herself over the Internet and it became public. In recent years what we used to be considered obscene behavior has been glamorized and encouraged by magazines, TV, Cable, the Internet. and our school systems.
It is time for change in America. We need to take our culture back! It is time to get involved as parents in our schools, we need to let our leaders hear our voices loud and clear. We must become ONE NATION UNDER GOD!

What Really Happens in VEGAS?

Some really WONDERFUL THINGS!! Graduation, Baptisms, Great friends, Fun and best of all you can remember evertything in the Morning.

Back to School..

We had a Great Summer but now it is back to school for the two youngest! We all really enjoyed friends and family who were able to come see us at our new home in Austin. No regrets! It is quiet in our home right now. I am working in my office but I find myself a little distracted by the lack of life happening in the home. I am going to go to lunch with a friend out where people make noise. Here is a re-cap of a summer highlight for us.




Recently I took my family and some of our friends from out of state to downtown Austin along the famed 6th street. We took the Duck Boat tour http://www.austinducks.com/ it was a blast. You will learn all about the history of Austin and how it became the capitol of Texas. We finished the evening off at Bess Bistro http://www.bessbistro.com/ (my oldest daughter is a pastry chef there) Bess is owned by Sandra Bullock and is a great way to get the Austin Flavor. A stroll down 6th street will put you in ears shot of some of the best music in the country. Each cafe, bar and restaurant have live music as Austin loves to proclaim itself as The Nations Capitol for Live Music.
The Real Estate Market in Austin remains strong despite what has happened in other parts of the country. This can be attributed to a strong economy in Texas especially in central Texas. Where people work they also must have homes to buy or lease. The strong economy has attracted both investors and new residents from LasVegas, California and Arizona where the real estate market booms have created wealth for home owners in a short period of time. To protect their gains they have migrated to a more solid market where their money has incredible purchase power http://alanmaz.actris.mlxchange.com/



If you want to find out more about owning a piece of Austin feel free to contact me: 512-709-3336 or just email me your questions at alanmaz1@earthlink.net

Have a noisy day!!

Alan

Weekend to Remember

This past weekend, my wife had given me two tickets to the Cowboy vs Bronco's game in Dallas Texas. I am a huge Dallas Cowboy fan from my childhood. My son and I went to the game, my middle daughter came along with us to Dallas but stayed with other family members while we were at the game.

It was my second game in Texas Stadium. By television, I had watched some of the great NFL players of all time play on that field: Bob Lilly, Roger Stabauch, Tony Dorsett, Emmitt Smith and so many more. For those friends of mine who secretly love the Cowboys too, they did win the game 31-20. Looks like this could be a great season if key players stay healthy.

The best part of my weekend however was not the game. It was being with my children. My wife and I are blessed with 3 beautiful children. They are very sweet (when they are asleep) and obedient (when I carry a big stick) but most of all they love each other. Perhaps that will be the greatest legacy that Michele and I will leave behind is the relationship our children have with each other.

I can tell you it has not been easy work to get them to this point. They each have very different personalities. What one loves the other may not care for at all. Zak loves to read, Amanda loves to sing, Mikah loves to dance and cook pasteries.

Sounds like the perfect Circus doesn't it? I am so thankful that they care for each other. As I look around at the fractured famlies that make up America today, I see a vast sea of lonely people. My prayer is that our kids will always love each other and be there for one another.

No matter how old we get or how far we may move away our siblings can make life a richer blessing or a unbearble burden. I am the oldest of 4 siblings and we are close. It would be great to be closer, but I do know that we love each other. Adversity in our life has revealed that time and again.

This weekend, I saw my children love me and love each other. We went to church together and I saw them love Jesus. What joy! When we decided to move to Austin Texas, my oldest daughter did not have to move it was love of family that caused her to move. What a joy it has been to have her close by her brother and sister dearly love spending time with her.

My oldest daughter no longer lives at home and her siblings and parents miss her. She misses us too and often comes over for dinner. When at home now during the day at times I will hear Zak and Amanda upstairs laughing and playing together it makes me smile.

It is not that they never fight it is that Michele and I raise the value of each child and the value of loving each other. We model it, reward it when we see it and discpline strongly when it is violated.

Re-inventing The Wheel

No matter how old I get (I am approaching another birthday) it still amazes me when I encounter the Re-Inventors. You don't have to travel far to meet them. They are your friends, neighbors, family members. Some are even students (which is even more amazing).

The Re-inventors are impressed by only one thing, their personal experiences. When facing an extreme challenge in life they would rather seek personal experience over experienced counsel. It's time to buy their first car. No need to ask anyone for advice, just hustle on down to the car dealership and let the happy car salesman educate you. He just needs to know how much you want your monthly payment to be. There is no substitute for raw personal experience.

Just imagine this: when I started in my career field I actually used to pay guys to teach me what they knew and how they became successful in that field. What a waist of money! I went to College and then Masters work, it was just like throwing money in the trash. I could have learned it all on my own. What I must have missed by listening to experienced counsel from others rather than charging forward armed with my ideas untested life philosophy.

There is a passage in the Bible that states "there is wisdom in the midst of much counsel." Wisdom easily obtained by just asking others. People all around us who will teach us wisdom. The challenge is to have a teachable attitude. As long as we can listen without thinking about what we are going to say when the other person stops talking we are in at least reasonable learning mode. It is really that simple.

The Re-inventors are not devoid counsel, they surround themselves with people who agree with their point of view. It is usually a small tight nit group of people who stand at the ready for each other should their philosophy or ideas be challenged by someone outside the circle. The mission is not to learn truth but rather to be proclaimed "right".

Good news! You do not have to Re-invent the wheel.

The Title

A MILE WIDE...

Many years ago a man of high office in my church organization made this statement about our movement.

"The Assemblies of God is a mile wide and an inch deep".

His comments came out of a sermon he had prepared to challenge us to merge the head and the heart together. The Assemblies of God has long been known for the openess to experiencing God with the whole heart, emotions. feelings. The challenge of the speaker was that we not allow our feelings to be the primary directive for our spiritual lives.

What was said that night to the leadership of the Assemblies of God organization is true of American culture as well. We are a culture of feelings and emotions. Moved to tears by a 20 second story on the news that may well later prove to be untrue or a mis-representation of facts altogether. Too late though we have already shed tears and sent money and repeated the story multiple times to as many people as we could get to listen.

A mile wide and an inch deep when we hate the congress but continuously re-elect our congressmen. A mile wide and and inch deep when we send our sons to war but demand that they fight it politically correct. A mile wide and an inch deep when we buy carbon credits so we can ease our conscience. A mile wide and an inch deep when we allow another tax to be levied by a government that keeps finding new ways to pick our pockets because we rationalize that this tax will not effect us only people who smoke or eat too much or buy gas for automobiles etc...

As long as we feel first and think second we are easy targets for predators. That was the point of the sermon I heard so many years ago. The enemy of our soul would love for us to live our lives by how we feel. He would encourage good feelings when we were doing things that could destroy us and others and make us feel angry or cheated when we do things that in the long run will be in our best interest and the interest of others.

And so we find ourselves A Mile Wide and An Inch Deep. The average American spends 8 hours a day at work and 8 hours a day in front of the TV. The cruel reality is that leaves no time for deep thoughts so we dare not tread into deep waters.