This is a Water Cooler Wednesdays post…

One of the biggest things I’ve wanted to do in my life is actually put down roots and live somewhere for more than 2 or 3 years.  For much of my life, it seems I’ve lived a nomadic existence.  Since 1994 when I went off to the University of Oklahoma, I haven’t stayed in the same place for very long.

I want the relationships and familiarity that can only come with living or dwelling somewhere for a long period of time.  We never guessed that place would be Fort Smith, Arkansas, but here we are.  After living here for 10 months in an apartment, the perfect house for us went on the market and we acted quickly. God has been in control of this whole thing and has been very faithful to help us during this process of putting down roots.

The last few weeks have been quite tiring and difficult… juggling job, family and moving.  All the packing, U-Hauling, scraping, painting, ripping up, laying down, measuring, cleaning, fixing, buying, installing and aching has been worth it.  I haven’t been to the gym in 2 weeks and haven’t walked in almost as long, but I’ve been burning calories and pumping the muscles in other ways.  We didn’t expect this to be such an ordeal, but it’s totally worth it to settle into such a great community, church and job.

I really need to take some time to write down my life list.  Up until now, I just sort of have this running list in my head… and there are still lots of things I want to do like skydive, go to Australia, take an African Safari, visit Tokyo, Israel, Ireland and Montana.  I want to do a marathon, write a lot of great songs and have a few more children.  I want God to change me into who He has always wanted me to be.  I still want to get an MBA and a PhD… mainly just for me, but to keep learning.  I don’t ever want to stop learning, growing and experiencing something outside my comfort zone.

I believe setting down roots is going to play a major role in the great things that are yet to come and I can’t wait to see where God takes us as we plant ourselves and serve him with our lives and all He has blessed us with.  Check out the song Roots Before Branches by Nikki and Adam Anders on iTunes.

With the tragic bridge collapse in Minneapolis, there has been an increased opportunity for bridge inspectors across our nation. We probably don’t have enough bridge inspectors to handle the more than 70,000 bridges that have been rated deficient.

When you think of bridges in a spiritual sense there are some powerful messages that begin to emerge. We probably cross several bridges a day on our way to work, etc. We most often hear the term “burning bridges”. But bridge inspectors probably hasn’t entered into our vocabulary…until now. A horrible thing happens and now, we want to inspect the bridge to see what happened and try to predict if and when it might happen again.

I bet over the next several weeks, we’ll think about bridges as we cross over them. “Is this safe? Should I take an alternate route? I’ll hurry up and get across before something bad can happen.” Maybe we should approach all the bridges in our lives with these kinds of questions. The bridge between the church and everyone else probably ranks among the worst of deficient ratings. How can we change that? What measuring device or standard can we use to evaluate our bridges and make changes?

I think we all might have a little “structural engineer” in us if we look hard and tap into it. We should inspect the bridges in our relationships: family, friends and community. There are all sorts of opportunities for bridge inspectors and maybe we should fill out the application.

Today must be all about shifting. For me and my family… we’re all shifting right now. My life, my career, my ideas about everything are shifting. It’s like a psychological & emotional landslide/earthquake. I’m glad things are getting shaken up a bit because, to tell the truth, I think I’d become 1 part bored and 1 part complacent. I’ve had all these dreams from so long ago just waiting in the wings. All the while, new dreams have been born nearly every day. What to do with them all? I haven’t aborted them. I haven’t abandoned them. I have neglected them. I’m looking for every door and window of opportunity to fling open and allow me to be who and what I am. Life is too short to be ineffective. As my good friend Annie Lennox recommended, I checked out this video called The Shift. Please have a look.