If I Could Go Back In Time.....

Don’t we all wish we could time travel at least once?  If possible, I would go back to September 1, 2013.  It was a week after my baptism at Woodlands Church, 3 weeks before a cruise to Cozumel, Mexico with Christie, and 4 months before the start of one of the worst years in my life.  I wouldn’t need to go back in time for very long-just long enough to pass on a message to myself.  This is what I’d say:

First, take God and your new commitment to Him seriously.  Make God your #1 priority.  Read the Bible first every day.  Pray morning, noon, and night.  Pray before making decisions.  Heed the response.  Make “praying first” a habit.  Thank God for your blessings.  Go to church every Sunday.  Tithe 10% and save 10% OF THE GROSS EVERY MONTH.  Participate in all available church activities: volunteer, attend small group bible study, do all the stuff for kids, do that date night thing they offer, and support Christie in M.O.P.S. activities.

Second, cherish every single moment with Christie. Tell her you love you every day – show her you mean it. Take her out to lunch and out on dates – often. Take her to Paris.  Help her with the homeschooling.  Send each kid to private school once they reach 7^th grade.  Support her in finishing her degree in biology.  Help with housework everyday.  Stop drinking.  Stop watching porn. Read Titus 2:11-15 and Job 31:1 to help break that addiction.  Take anger management classes.  The “grass” is not greener.  Period.

Third, come home from work on-time every day.  An extra hour of work is not the same as an hour playing legos.  Legos wins every time. Limit TV to 10 hours a week.  Spend more time with Tessa, Alyssa and baby Derek.  Get them all in scouts and martial arts (or other sport).  Take Tessa and Alyssa on their own “Daddy dates” once a month so they know how a real man should treat them.  Have a family meeting every Sunday night.  Pray together, then talk about the coming week.  Make Monday nights “family fun night” with each kid picking the activity/meal in rotation.  Go camping and fishing together because it really is fun.  Make it your hobby.  Call your sister, Jill, at least once a week.  Go to all extended family activities.  Take lots of digital pictures.  Buy Christie a real nice digital SLR and get yourself a pocket digital camera.  If Matt Hensley has severe abdominal pain, immediately take him personally to Memorial Hospital, force them to do an MRI and remove that infected appendix.

Fourth, spend more time with the good people in your life.  Avoid certain unsavory people who lack morals, have no ethics, promote infidelity, gamble, and/or do drugs: Mary Lezynski, Todd Watt, Terri Legendre, Majed Julali, Jason Miller, Amanda Wick, Robert Rhodes, Dr. Paul Looney, Wayne Springer, Debra Karlsson, Jordan Linger, and Karon Moore (and her cross-dressing husband, Joe).  Make more couples friends in The Woodlands who attend church too.  Attend and host dinner parties.  Be a great friend.  Be neighborly.  Be a great neighbor.  Have BBQ’s.

Next, do not sell your company, AXP Technologies, to Systems Evolution.  Cloud-computing will be really, really huge.  Core values are more important thatn today’s revenue.  Outsource non-core strengths.  Study Gitomer for sales.  Join BNI and the Chamber for networking and Toastmasters for public speaking.  Participate in the Houston Tech. Center.  Become a Citrix and VMWare partner.  Look up thefacebook.com and invest $100k with the owner Mark Z.  Hold it for at least 10 years.  Invest all you can every month in Apple.  Stop doing MLM’s. Watch CNBC.  Take the long view in business decisions (after praying about it first).  Get and stay debt-free personally and in business.  Do “Financial Peace” by Dave Ramsey.  Stick to a budget.

Last, set goals. When you reach them, set new ones – keep stretching.  Don’t stop growing in all aspects of your life.  If you get off track or feel lost, return to the first things first.  Join YMCA.  Work out 3x a week and run 3x a week.  Also do yoga and Pilates classes with Christie for fun. Work out with Christie once a week.  Set a physical goal: bench 225 lbs 25x, pull-ups 25x and run Houston Marathon in under 4 hours.  Learn “mid-foot” strike running technique used by barefoot runners.  Get your deviated septum fixed ASAP.  Get laser eye correction.  Let Dr. Cannon fix your ankle.  You’re not an OT anymore.  Go to Rebecca Dawden for marriage counseling at least twice a month, 90 min. each.  Don’t be idle.  Do work around the house in spare time.  Take a family vacation at least once a year for at least a week.  Read everything by S. Covey and J. Maxwell.  Oh ya, have lots of fun ding it all.  Amen.

Grace & Peace