Eric Taylor

Daddy-Daughter College Road Trip

Today we're in Lynchburg, VA at Liberty University for Abby's first real College visit.  We left yesterday for the LONG road trip up here.  We used to live about an hour south of Lynchburg in a town called Danville.  We were both looking forward to getting back up there and reminiscing about old times... well, I was... she was only 2 years old when we lived there, so she doesn't remember anything.  Why are we driving such a long way to visit a college?  There are a couple of reasons:  1)  We began praying about where God wanted Abby to go to school several months ago... Don't ask me why, but Liberty was one of those schools that the Lord impressed upon both of our hearts to visit.  It's a great school with a great heritage.  And it turns out some pretty great people who are serving the Lord faithfully.  The other is 2) I get to spend some quality time with my, almost 17 year old, daughter that I'm about to unleash on the world in 18 months.  This will give us a chance to talk, laugh, and think about the future.  The ride was long and I wanted to be intentional about bringing certain things up in conversation... so, I came up with 10 things I want my daughter to know.  Here are the things I shared with her on our trip:

1. I love her and I'm proud of her-- she brings me great joy not because of anything she's done, but because of who she is.
2. She is loved unconditionally by the Father.  Even when her earthly father screws up and lets her down, she has a heavenly Father who is perfect and will love her perfectly.
3. God has great plans for her.  As long as she seeks the Lord with all her heart, she will find Him and she will find her purpose and calling.
4. Life's too short let worry consume you... so don't
5. You can't control other people or things... so don't let it get to you.
6. Get so lost in God that you attract boys that will pursue Him just to get to you. (from Dannah Gresh)
7. Fulfill your passion.  life's too short not to live out of your passion.
8. Give generously- you can't outgive God... ever!  He will always bless you more
9. Always see the Big Picture. 
10. You can ALWAYS come home, no matter what!

10 things I want her to know as she is preparing to enter into the adult world very soon... sooner than her mom and I are ready for... but this is why God gave her to us... to prepare her, to launch her and to cheer her on in pursuing her God given purpose.  I'll write more about our trip later.  

Birthday Celebration!

Today is my wife's birthday!  We celebrated by going to her favorite restaurant-- Shogun Japanese Steakhouse.  We love that place.  Came back home, watched American Idol... (David Cook is my favorite... I think he's going to win it all!) and ate this killer TCBY deep dish brownie yogurt pie---- MMMMMMM!  She is an amazing woman and I love her so much.  Happy Birthday Sonja! 

No Fun Monday

It's finally here... the bug that has been going around has finally stopped at the Taylor house.  Both Seth and Abby are home sick today.  We have a rule at our house... you can't miss school unless you're running a fever  in the hospital or bleeding (yeah, I'm a mean guy) ... so if you stay home from school it's got to be bad.   It's no fun when anyone at our house is sick, but when both kids are sick... that's a double whammy.

Happy Valentine's Day

This week has been a wildly busy week, so I find myself a little bit behind where I should be getting ready for Sunday... BUT...in about 15 minutes my beautiful, funny, talented, and incredibly Godly wife will be getting home and I'm going to unplug and she'll have my undivided attention.

We're going to a movie and get some coffee... can't stay out too late... it's a school night!  I am so grateful to God for bringing us together over 18 years ago... every day she amazes me with how God uses her in my life. 

Proud Papa

Today is a BIG day in the Taylor house.  Today they posted the Auburn Junior High Baseball Team.  Seth, my 13 year old, has been working hard the past few months and it paid off... He made the team!  We're so proud... He's pretty excited too.  They are going to use him primarily as a pitcher. His coaches told me he has good form and they like him in that role.  Here's the funny part... he never really pitched all that much in rec league until last year. Here's what I'm most proud of... his desire is to play and perform well, but he also wants to influence his teammates and coaches for Christ.  God's definitely going to use him in a big way!   First game is in 2 weeks. This weekend we've got to get all our blue and black Auburn gear out so we can be ready!  Go Tigers!

Father Son Morning

Today Seth and I started meeting together for our FSM (Father Son Morning). Got the idea from Mark Batterson at National Community Church.   We're going to get together once a week for breakfast and talk about the New Testament (we're reading through it together this year);  I've picked out some books for him to read.  They range from fun books-- Lanny Donaho's God's Blog to Leadership books-- Andy Stanley's Next Generation Leader and a few others. (Batterson's, In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day;  McManus', Unleash the hero within and some others.)  I'm looking for a couple more.  If you have any suggestions, leave me a comment. We're also going to do some hiking and camping together for some adventure time.  It was a great first meeting... We're starting with John and we're going to move on from there.   We finished our Chicken biscuits and prayed  together before I took him to school... while I was praying over him I got kindof choked up... This young man is going to do GREAT things for the Kingdom.  I'm excited to see where the Lord takes us on our Father Son Adventure this year. 

Happy Birthday Abby

Today my daughter turns 15! I know it's cliche but it does seem like yesterday that she was climbing up on my shoulders and I was teaching her to ride a bike without training wheels.  Now, on Monday, she will take her Driver's Test to get her learner's permit.  It's going to be a great Daddy/Daughter Day... we'll get to the license office around 6am to wait in line until 8.  Then she'll take the test and, hopefully, we'll be out of there by noon... I'm not counting on it!  Then the words that she's waited so long to say will come..."Dad, can I drive home?"  I'll have to say yes... I want to say yes... I want her to learn to drive well and be confident in her skills while I'm in the car with her.... because in just one more year, the words will come that I hope I'm ready for... "Dad, can I borrow the car?"  I'm not sure I'm ready for that yet... we'll just celebrate her 15th birthday for now and get ready for the Great Driving Adventure.  Happy Birthday Abby... You make me proud... I love you!

Proud Papa!

I've been teaching my daughter, Abby, to drive.  She get's her permit at the end of this month and every Sunday she goes to the school with me at 7am for a little daddy/daughter time.  A while back, I let her drive from the front gate of the school around to the back just to help her get comfortable driving... I really know what it's like to NOT be in control... it was one of the scariest things I've ever done.  But she's a really good driver and every week she's gotten better.  Being a portable church, we have a trailer that we have to unload every Sunday and Abby has even learned how to back up my truck to hook up the trailer.  That's been a big help!  But what happened yesterday made me so proud.  She asked me if she could drive the trailer around and back it up!  And she did it!  I only learned to back a trailer up when I was working at Mountain Lake Church... It took a long time... and a lot of tries... But Abby picked up on it quickly.  That made me so proud!  I know that God's going to use her to do great things... she wants to go to medical school and be a Doctor.  But I know however and wherever God uses her, if there's a trailer that needs to be unloaded, my Abby can do it!

18 Years!

I'm incredibly blessed to have been married to my wife for 18 years. She is definitely the woman behind the man.  She worked while I was in seminary... She's the most incredibly disciplined Christ follower I've ever been around.  She's an incredible mom and a wonderful friend... She invests her time and heart into a bunch of 5th graders at Dean Road Elementary School and she's dang good at it... She coordinates the Children's Ministry at Journey and I never have to worry about what the kids are doing because she's on it!  She loves her kids at school and at church... she loves our daughter and son and models the way for them to become Godly young adults... she loves me more than I deserve... I really did marry way over my head!  But most of all, she loves God radically, passionately and will follow Him wherever He leads.   Even into the crazy adventure of church planting.  Sonja is a special woman and I'm so blessed to call her my wife!  I love you, honey.  Happy Anniversary!

Holidays on the Road

I loved this past Sunday!  We revealed some of the places we're going to invest our time and money over the next year.  If you missed it here are some of the highlights...

• We're going ALL IN locally and globally
  
  • Locally we're partnering with organizations like Women's Hope Medical Clinic and East Alabama Food Bank as well as kicking you out of your growth groups about every 2 months to get off the couch and go serve someone in the community.
  • Globally we're partnering with American Caribbean Experience and investing our time, resources and heart into Jamaica.  We have our first project planned for May 31-June 7.  I'm going to be heading out on site trip to St. Mary's Jamaica the first week of December.  Man... I can't wait! 
  • We're also committed to building a well in Rwanda.  In fact, I'd love to see us build at least one well every year.  It takes $3000 to provide clean water for 750 people in Rwanda.  WE CAN DO THIS! 

Tomorrow night our family is heading out to spend the Thanksgiving holiday in Wear's Valley, TN close to Gatlinburg.  This will be a bittersweet trip because it marks the first anniversary of Sonja's mom's death.  We're all so thankful that she is with Jesus now and isn't suffering, but there's still an incredible void in our family.  So, we've decided to take the holidays on the road.  It's going to be an awesome time... we even get to watch the Iron Bowl up there... bad part is... Sonja's family are all big Bama fans!

I'm taking several books that I'm reading and I hope I'll get to finish them up there... I also picked up a new one today called "UNSTUCK".

  I know you're not suppose to judge a book by it's cover, but the cover is what hooked me... then the layout, design got me... but as I read the preface, I knew it was something I needed because there are days I feel STUCK as a leader and a pastor.  I'll let you know... of course, there's no internet access at the cabin, but I'll be back online on Monday.  Hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving.