Living Rarefied

I need you
I miss you
The end

Ethan Daily, Feeling, Honesty golf

With spring, more projects arrive. With the extensive projects we have done over the years, many things got left behind. We found that we did the big things that everybody can see, but neglected some smaller items that we see everyday since we live there.

Our dog Bennett is freaking out as I am pretty sure he thought we were done once we finished the new hardwood floors and he was able to once again roam around the house.

We are tired already

Ethan Daily house

I can’t figure out why people spend their time trying to take pictures of the stage/artists at concerts. Especially with Point & Shoot cameras. You overpay to see live performances and then you spend the whole time fixated on your camera and why you can’t get a good shot!

Why not focus on the present? The only purpose the blurry pics will serve is to remind you of the concert at which you were distracted.

Also you distract those within 3 rows behind you.

Ethan Daily, Honesty, Music cameras, chris tomlin, concerts, why

What a weekend, 4 birthday parties in 3 days.

• ate 4 meals instead of 7
• ate 5 desserts instead of 0

My friend Molly told me about this funny Twitter video from CurrentTV.   I hope this doesn’t become me. Maybe thats why I blog in the first place.

Ethan Daily

Please review my true life story of DirecTv and me over the last few months. I hope its entertaining for you, as it has been painfully painful for me.

Ethan Daily, Feeling

Got word that a bunch of instructors are ready to roll with my site (Book A Lesson). I need to do a few things to give them options for customization… But its a great group of golf instructors that will be strong advocates for me and what we're trying to do with it.

The site should be live in a few weeks!

UPDATE: 1 month or so…

Ethan Daily

I see many many people commit to an idea, not to an action.

I like "do'ers" more than "commit'ers"

Ethan Community, Daily, Feeling

Katie has done a wonderful job making this video..  I just got a link from her.

VIDEO

Ethan Daily, testing

There are amazing people in your world. We can be so close to friendship with them and have no idea.

A friend I met on the trip had been on the same support team as me at the Upper Room, the extent of how much we interacted were comments like this. "Where does this go? Not sure, ask Joe." or "Hey great job, see you next week." On the trip and in the short time after I am beginning to see the story that makes up this guy. What makes him tick, what is going on in his head as he breaks down what life is going to look like for him after this El Salvador experience. I am anxious to spend more time with him.
Some others that were close by were a few from a weekend retreat last November. I knew them as names and friendly faces, thats it. I wish I had taken the time to jump out of my comfort zone of the friends I came with to experience life with them.

Another friend I got to know on this trip I first saw sometime early this spring. Steve Weins was giving on February 26th a message about integrity where we ended the time together by going up to big boards on the stage with markers and wrote a word/phrase about ourselves that maybe our image doesn't show. The word I wrote on the board was "lonely". I remember really wrestling with that because of the truth to it, and the fact I had just wrote it in front of 1000+ people. Not everybody could read it as i wrote, but i am sure a few saw it. I remember seeing this person who had sat in front of me alone, after the service standing alone in thought. I remember walking towards this new friend of mine to initiate a conversation, only to be called out by somebody who isn't much more than an aquaintance but helps mask that loneliness I wrote about and I aborted the mission of striking up a conversation with this person. The sad thing is I cannot tell you what the conversation was about that called me away from this person. Was it worth it? Here I sit almost 6 months later and am only now beginning to know this friend. In those 6 months struggles have fallen on my friend, some difficult decisions were made on my end and 1 week in July this stranger was on my team I was leading in El Salvador.

There are other small stories of people I am beginning to experience life with that I am thankful about. These are just a few of the stories that are screaming out to me, what if you would've made a better effort to initiate with them when you first had the chance! Would the stranger have wanted somebody to talk to that night? I know I needed a conversation I could remember. Would my support-team friend and I gotten along if we only talked more while we worked? Or was it the experience we had together in El Salvador that drew out a friendship in a more communal way. Would my retreat friends lasted had I shared more time with them that weekend and after that, or would they have faded.

As much as it kills me to say it was better to become friends on this trip, I think it says something about the power of being in community. Had we talked more and gotten to know each other months, years ago, would the friendships be where they are today and more excitingly, where they are going! I hate "what ifs" cause I feel we are called to live in the present and not dwell on what if this had happened instead. It slows us down from living full lives with those we are with now.
I am so thankful for these new friendships…

Ethan Community, Daily, Feeling

Recently I got an email from the country club I play golf at.  A surprising but heart warming email that I am excited about.

They are setting up a program for members to come along side the grounds crew and other employees of the club to teach and help them learn english.  Amazing thoughts coming from a place that is predominately viewed as people who wouldn't acknowledge the existense of those the program is reaching out to.  I have a friend Antonio who works there who has been a blessing and a bridge to me wanting to enter into relationships with them and learn from them.

I am going to call Antonio and see if he can do the program with me, I don't speak much spanish,  HS daydreamer level maybe…  But hopefully it can be a place where I can learn from them, and maybe help them learn english too!  Antonio has been here a few years, he came from Veracruz Mexico with no knowledge of english.  Antonio speaks english very well and has shared some great stories of his world that have helped shape my views and priorities in my world.
waiting in anticipation!

Ethan Daily