Revolving Days

My days have blurred into something new. Something different. Something rather exhausting. The days don't seem to stop now. Tasks lead to tasks and hours lead to hours and projects lead to projects and sleep leads to waking and waking leads to sleep. In the midst of all this crazy I find myself digging deeper into myself than I ever have. More is expected of me now by more people than at any point in my life. All I can say is I'm glad it's happening now and not 5 years ago. I don't know if I would have done so well if the old me had been presented with the challenges I now face daily. I am learning to lean more on God day by day. Tracie suggested we pray each morning, which helps to keep things in perspective. I remind myself daily that God put me where I am for a reason and He will keep me here as long as He needs to. I have grown these past 4.5 months into a better man. Hopefully I can continue to chip away at my short comings and, when I stop to catch my breath in some year to come, I will see a man in the mirror who inspires those around him through a live lived less ordinary.

Spinning Out

I hope this sketch book doesn't devolve into regurgitating the thoughts of others. The problem is that there is always a Switchfoot song to go with what I'm thinking. Today I'm considering the power of distraction. America is a nation based on the power of distraction. The "modern machine" tells us to fill the voids in our lives with hobbies. Be a sports fan. Ride a motorcycle. Run marathons. Tivo all your favorite shows and watch them every evening. Buy that outfit. Watch that movie. Go to that web site. Before you know it, your life is full to the brim with distractions and hollow accomplishments. Like a smoker who inhales death to soothe his itchy lungs, when we begin to feel the buzzing emptiness that lives in the center of our souls we find a distraction to numb us. I can feel that emptiness myself, to the extent that I roll my eyes at my own distractions. So, I propose a simple solution. Many of us have been taught that helping others is a primary reason we exist on this planet. I say we do that. Help someone. Start small. Start today. Call your grandmother. Take that frozen dinner over to a friend. With this first small step it's OK to keep it close to home. God has told us that these things are important to Him. I believe that no matter what we do on this planet, we will never feel like we belong here. We will always be left a little unsatisfied. The best we can do is begin to value what God values. Maybe then we will see the world a little more clearly and begin to value the souls around us. Once we can learn to see their value here then we can begin to see their eternal value. But don't worry about that right now. For now, replace one of your distractions with something a little more meaningful. The worst possible outcome is that you will be distracted with purpose.



Another day
Another sunrise
Another factory call
Another night
Another sunset
Another freefall

Am I alive?
Am I on purpose?
Within the weakness
Within the weakness...

Spinning out in circles
In circles, in circles
Spinning out in circles
In circles, in circles

Another day
Another lifetime
Another engine stalls
Another line
Another freeway
Another freefall

I've lost all that I wanted to leave
I've lost all that I wanted to be
Don't believe that there's nothing that's true
Don't believe in this modern machine!
The modern machine

In circles

strike a match

You have found the online sketch book of BurnOutBright. Before you get your hopes up, know that my real life sketch books contain a truly random assortment of doodles, sketches, half-written paragraphs, business plans, sermon notes from church, prayers, and remnants of pages torn out and thrown away. There will be no common thread except that I am here, on the other side of the screen, living a life that I hope will prove to be less ordinary. Maybe when we are done here we will both be older, wiser, and burn a little bit brighter. We only have one try. We only have one life. Time was never on our side. So let's turn up the intensity just a notch and live like someone's watching.