As much as I chafe over doing something because I “have to”, I must admit that I do like it… especially creating the collage.  The process of going through photos and remembering all that we have done over the last 12 months is cathartic.  It is easy for someone like me to forget and begin to think that my life does not matter.  Remembering and reflecting becomes more important to me all the time… or maybe it is just my awareness of its importance.

I hope you will take a few moments to read the 2009 Anderson Family News and take a look at the 2009 Collage.  You can always view collages and news pages from previous years by clicking the Family News menu on the jimazing.com web site

Danny was an exacting and demanding music director.  One of my favorite memories (although it was terrifying at the time) was how he would occasionally stop the rehearsal abruptly and point to someone and ask them to sing the part of another section in the band… usually when you were playing too loudly.  So I and the rest of the trombone section would be playing our parts proudly and loudly only to have him stop the band, point and ask one of us to sing the flute part.  The flute part!  Are you kidding?  You mean those quiet little woodwinds way over on the other side of the room!?  He wanted each of us to be able to hear the whole piece; to be aware that our part wasn’t everything.  There was actually other music happening right in the same room.  What a great life-lesson!  Each part is important, but the music of the band is all the parts together.  I could tell you a hundred more stories just like this one.

Last November, Danny and I met at the new music school and caught up on more years apart than I care to admit.  I learned that in recent years Danny had not one, but two battles with cancer and beat it.  If you have ever met Danny, you know that he has a passion that just draws others in.  As he told me about his plans to make a second bike ride across America to raise awareness for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, I was hooked and ready to join him.  I offered to help by creating a web site for the trip.  I’m happy to say that they web site is live and the trip begins next week!

Please check it out and subscribe to join me in following their progress as they journey from San Diego, CA to Charleston, SC.  If you are in Charleston this Friday night (April 17th), check out the Blues Brew & BBQ send off bash.

A good friend said to me yesterday, “I hope at the end of 2009, you will say that this was one of the best years of your life.’” What a terrific thought! It reminds me that, although I cannot control everything that happens to me, I potentially have more input into how my life plays out than anyone else.

My prayer for 2009 is that I grow into the person that I was meant to be and that I be an influence for positive change as grow in loving God and loving others as myself. For you, I hope that each of you look back in a year and say to yourself, “What an awesome year 2009 was… I think it was the best one yet!”

2008 Collage (click to enlarge)

Collage and News

In 2000, I started a tradition of creating a collage of photos from the year and a newsletter then posting them on the internet. It was my special way of getting out of sending Christmas Cards. Now it has become a “must do”. Click these links to view the 2008 collage and 2008 news. To see past years, click the Family News menu above.

I hope to write some reflections on 2008 in the coming days even though it’s all out of order that way. I can write them later, but Happy New Year has to be done today and it is almost gone!

When Bob introduced Dave and me to his nurse, he told her that we were part of his men’s group in Charlotte. He also said that I was the one who invited him to be a part of a men’s group. I had forgotten that. It was a few years ago, we had a men’s “retreat” one weekend with Kenny Luck as the guest speaker. Kenny was talking about having good friends and community. I was bored silly. During a break, I was standing in the church atrium and thinking about how little I needed to hear this stuff. I was already in community with several guys. I had all the things he was talking about. While I was sulking and considering whether or not to just leave, God whispered to me that there were others right there in that room who did not have community. Not men who needed to be convinced; men who desparately wanted community, but didn’t know where to find it. I felt the Lord prompt me to turn around and introduce myself to the first person I saw. I turned around and put my hand out and said, “Hi, my name is Jim.” He replied, “I’m Bob.”

I’m so glad that God entrusted me with that little job… and I’m so glad I didn’t let Him down. Bob, I pray for a speedy and thorough recovery for you. You are a great friend.

Imagine four guys getting together for a day long retreat for the purpose of going deeper in friendship. What might that look like? We didn’t know either, but we can invent it as we go. The reality is that we don’t make up anything in an of ourselves. I didn’t make my brain, I didn’t create my body. Any good ideas I have are not because of anything I can take credit for. We owe it all to God who lavishes his goodness on us all.

I can imagine your asking about now whether since I am expressing thanks to God that I might be over and done with the doubting and questions. Rest easy (or not) I am as full of questions and doubts as ever, but this one thing I am sure of. There is a God and for some reason He loves me. I still have lots of things I just don’t get. I hope I always do.

My friends and I decided to set aside a day to get away and hear the hearts of our friends. We talked about things that are important to us, we dreamed, we went digging for treasure in our dreams. We call it “heart spelunking“. We learned and practiced tools for better communication. We experienced the benefits of each of our God given gifts. We felt deeply and experienced breakthroughs. It was difficult at times and incredible throughout. We joked and laughed, spoke our fears and dreams and cried. It was truly an auspicious day.

When I have gone to conferences and retreats in years past, my objective was always to have fun or to learn more. These days, I find that my objective is to invest in things that will help me be the person that God made me to be. Don’t get me wrong. I want to have fun. I do want to learn, but not fun for the sake of escaping life nor learning just for the sake of learning. I long to maximize my time here on this planet because I realize more and more how short it is.

I am so very thankful for the weekend, for great friends, partners in life, your thoughts and prayers and a God who loves me in spite of myself. I am also thankful for the people who invested their precious resources into creating the High Pastures Retreat. If you need a place to get away from everything, I highly recommend it.

Remember, no man is a failure who has friends–Clarence Oddbody

The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second best time is today.

I’m too busy to write on my blog today. I have things to do in order to maintain the things that matter to me:

• Calling loved ones who matter to me
• Time with my girls who matter to me
• Listening to Jeanie who matters to me
• Planning for the campout in October at which I will have time with my friends who matter to me
• Answering the important questions my Vital friend (who matters to me) asked
• Planning for a rough week at work where there are many people who matter to me
• Investing a little down-time watching Band of Brothers with some buddies who matter to me

What really matters? Another quote on the blog…

When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life in such a way so that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice.

Making the world a better place matters to me. That takes work. The things that matter always take work… Things don’t get better without an investment in time and energy.

Then again, there is a concept of starting the ball rolling. There are so many things I am involved in today that began with a little “yes” many years ago. These things take energy to maintain, but many times others take over that maintenance. I say “things” but it is often people, because people really matter, not things. In essence, I “started the ball rolling” by choosing a path. In order to keep the ball rolling, I must either invest more time in keeping it going or inspire and enlist the help of others. In other words, I can inspire others to recognize the value in what matters to me.

Here’s an example… the campout this fall. About two or three years ago in the fall, I decided that I wanted to go camping. So I invited a few friends from church and we went camping together. It was such an awesome time that we decided to do it again in the spring (notice the “I” changed to “we”). We started doing it every spring and fall. Last spring I was too busy to notice the time approaching. My buddy, Dave M asked, “when are we going camping” Next thing I knew, we had planned a spring campout. Now that fall is approaching, we started planning another… but word has gotten out that we have a great time and others want to be a part. So this morning, we had a “board meeting” to plan the campout and propose taking it to the next level with the church and inviting all the guys.

Did you catch the “board meeting”? Others have now caught the vision and are investing with me in this camping thing. But we aren’t investing in a campout, we are investing in lives. Our hope is to make the world a better place. It’s about the lives of the guys who will be there. Who knows what will come of it.

I am reminded of what Bilbo Baggins told his nephew in the Lord of the Rings…

It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out of your door,” he used to say. “You step into the Road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there is no knowing where you might be swept off to.

I say it is a dangerous thing to decide that something really matters. You get swept up into it and if you don’t stop investing in it, there’s no knowing what you might accomplish.

]]> http://jimazing.com/blog/2006/08/too-busy-to-write/feed/ 3 http://jimazing.com/blog/2006/08/painter-dave/ http://jimazing.com/blog/2006/08/painter-dave/#comments Fri, 04 Aug 2006 01:41:16 +0000 jimazing http://esc111.midphase.com/~jimaand2/blog/?p=26 I just have to brag on my friend, Dave. He’s known to the Cobra community as Painter Dave. I stopped by to see him last week as a customer was picking up their Cobra from his body shop. They buy them as kits and he makes the body shine. He sent me the this link to photos the customer took because they accidentally got me in the shots. What a beautiful job! Dave you are truly an artist. Click here.

The customer was bragging about the great work Dave does. I told them that they may have come because he does excellent work. I come because he is a great friend. Dave, I am so proud to know you and do life with you. I pray that your business prospers.

]]> http://jimazing.com/blog/2006/08/painter-dave/feed/ 1 http://jimazing.com/blog/2006/07/with-friends-like-this/ http://jimazing.com/blog/2006/07/with-friends-like-this/#comments Fri, 21 Jul 2006 02:15:24 +0000 jimazing http://esc111.midphase.com/~jimaand2/blog/?p=25 A quote from Jeff VanVonderen’s Good News for the Chemically Dependent…

… human beings have three basic needs. First, we need to be convinced that we are loved and accepted, without strings. In order to get love and acceptance, we do not have to act or refrain from acting a certain way, perform, excel, be polite, or quote Bible verses… This love builds people because people, not behavior, are loved.

Second, we need to be convinced that we are capable, valuable, important, special, and worthy….biblical terms that communicate the same concepts: chosen, gifted, called for a purpose, given to one another.

Third, we need to be convinced that we are not alone. There are two aspects to this. We need to know that we are not the only ones who think, act, feel, and struggle as we do… We also must know that there are resources and support in times of need. We are not alone!

This book is written to those who are struggling with chemical dependencies or love someone who is. Reading it, I realize that this is about something even more pervasive that addiction. I have habits and hurts and hang-ups that I don’t want anyone to know about. I feel like I have to perform in order to be accepted. I sometimes feel like I don’t measure up and I do feel like I’m all alone.

I believe in the power of God and the power of godly friends who accept me as the broken, unlovable goofball that I am. I believe that I can make it through life because of the good news that He loves me in spite of me. He loves me! He wants to be my friend!

It is not about being correct, nor having all the answers. It is not about performance. It is about being vulnerable with a few good friends and admitting my screw ups. It is telling one of my friends what a mess I am and how I screwed up… only to find this in my email soon afterwards…


“Do you know that I admire you ? I DO.. You are after God’s own heart and that is a man I admire. You area also a great GREAT friend. I want to be around you, to know you more and have you rub off on me. Thanks for giving of yourself to growing this friendship. It continues to change my life and it’s outcome. Forever”

With friends like that, I’m going to make it! God help me to be a friend and brother like that.

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