The Week In Review

I thought I might start a weekly post during football season to share my thoughts on the week’s highlights and of course the Broncos journey back to the playoffs. This is probably not the best week to start since the Broncos just lost to the Colts today and the Gators got a wake up call from Auburn last night, but you have to start somewhere.

So I will start tonight with a short post to lament the Broncos loss to the Colts today. It was not totally unexpected since the Colts have had the Broncos number the last few years, and the Broncos have not been playing up to their potential so far this season. The Broncos were in the game the first half, but limiting the Colts offense for all four quarters is almost an impossible task for any team. The best any team can do is to outscore them offensively, which the Broncos did not do in the second half. Of course, the Broncos turnover on their own 20-yard line and allowing the Colts to run on them for 229 yards on the ground did not help.

I still see the Broncos winning the West and hopefully improving enough to beat the Colts and Patriots in the playoffs. Am I dreaming a little, well maybe, but it is a long season and as any NFL fan knows, on any given Sunday any team can win. So watch out Patriots, Colts, and anyone else who gets in the way, because this January there just might be a re-match in the big game between the Broncos and the over-rated Cowboys!

Just a few kudos for today’s standouts:

Brett Favre for breaking Dan Marino’s record. It may not always be pretty but he gets it done and he is one tough redneck.

Daunte Culpepper for showing the Dolphins they might have let go of the wrong QB.

Arizona Cardinals for humbling the Steelers. Maybe the Steelers should have picked up Kurt Warner.

Peyton Manning for playing well against two of the best corners in the league. He is a force to be reckoned with.

And finally our own Brandon Marshall from UCF who has been a stud all season and the highlight of the Broncos offense. Can anyone take this guy down after the catch? He has already earned the nickname little T.O. around the league. However, at 6’4” and 230 pounds, I would not call him little. Hopefully he does not inherit the same bad attitude and chip on the shoulder that Terrell Owens has. Check out last week's performance: http://www.nfl.com/goto?id=09000d5d802a62b9

I'm sure that there will be better news next week for the Gators and Broncos as they take down LSU and the Chargers.

For anyone reading this that is new to football or just does not have a favorite team, my advice is to always view the world through Orange and Blue sunglasses. I am pretty sure God is a Broncos fan. Why else would he make sunrises Orange and the oceans Blue?

Have a great week!

Blessed

I know it has been a while since my last post, and that is mainly for two reasons. The first is that I have been very busy with work, beginning another semester of college, and spending time with my wife and baby Bryleigh. The second is that outside of those tasks, not much has been going on, nothing that would interest the readers of this blog anyway. However, there is an advantage to not having a lot going on in your life. It helps you to stop and appreciate all that you have. It is so much easier to focus on what you do not have or what you really want and think you need. Yet we rarely consider how blessed we are each moment of our lives. Just living in the United States is a blessing that most of the world never gets to experience. Not just the higher socio economic status that we have, but also the many freedoms that we so often take for granted. Sure, it is easy to find someone who seems to be blessed more than you are, but how often do we focus on the much higher percentage of those who have so much less than we have and would love to be in our shoes?

Last night as I sat in the recliner feeding Bryleigh, I was moved to consider all of the blessings in my life. I first thought of Bryleigh and what a blessing she has been to me, as well as the rest of my family. Not just because she is such a great baby, but also because she helps me to focus on someone other than myself. She reminds me of the joy of serving others and of how God loves us unconditionally even though we do nothing to earn or deserve his amazing love. I also noticed my dog Shylah lying by my feet and thought of how blessed I was to have such a great dog. Who else other than God could look past all of our weaknesses and failures and love us unconditionally without holding any record of wrongs? On the other hand, it would be great if we could show God the same kind of unconditional love that we get from our dogs. Just a thought.

I still have many goals in life and many things I would like to do. I do not always want to have to live paycheck to paycheck and wonder how we will meet each month’s bills. However, if I let that be my focus then I know I will miss so much along the way and may miss what God is trying to teach me. I just hope that in my daily life, I can live out Philippians 4:12 (I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation). The blessings I have in my life are far superior to anything money can buy and have a far greater return.
I hope that when you think about your life, the word that comes to your mind, as it does mine, is blessed.