Top 10 Things I Learned From My Dad

I'm really a blessed guy.  Not only do I have the best wife and kids in the world, but I was raised by terrific parents.  My dad has taught me so much, not just growing up, but he continues to lead by example today.  I'm thankful, proud, honored and blessed that he's a part of my life.  I could right about what he has taught me over the years, but that would fill several blog posts.  So instead, I did the Pop Culture thing an narrowed it down to a top ten list.

10.  How to shave.

9.  Proper mowing and lawn care techniques.

8.  Love for Mustangs/Love for Football (tie)

7.  How to tie a tie and wear said to tie every interview no matter the position.

6.  There isn't a Right Way to do a Wrong Thing.

5.  The 3 Things Every Plumber Must Know.

4.  Treat your young children like the adults that you know they will become.

3.  How to value your family above all things.

2.  Take time to get a feel for a new bike before popping a wheely on it. (taught by example-ask him!)

1.  A solid theological foundation, but more importantly, Jesus. and the Grace that follows those that follow Him.

Wherein I Wish My Wife Happy 17th Anniversary and Thank Her For Sticking With Me In Better and Worse and For Giving Me The Best Family a Guy Could Hope For and Tell Her How I Look Forward To Growing Old Together....

Thanks V!

Everything I Really Need Know, I Learned From My Grandmother: A Mother's Day Tribute

Today we lost my Grandmother, my Mother's Mom, Gertrude Gann.  She was just a few weeks shy of here 96th birthday.  This post was originally published on Mother's Day '09.  My mom read it to Mamaw Gann, I just hope she understood how much she meant to me and what an influence she had on my life.  I envy the reunion and the joy she is having right now. 


I want to tell you a story. Once upon a time - an enchanted time known as "The 1980's"- there lived a boy in a small town in north Texas hard against the Oklahoma border. This boy had a lot of what he needed. Love and support from his family. Plenty of food. Shelter. Unfortunately, the boy had very little brain. This was evidenced by his mullet, his lack of taste in fashion, and his driving ability. He was not unlike many of the boys his age.

The boy of very little brain had a job. He worked in the food court of the newly-opened mall in his town. The Boy also had a car. A Mustang. Now there is nothing wrong with a Mustang in and of itself, but when all that horsepower mixes with very little brain, well, you know. The mall where the boy worked wasn't quite completed. In fact, there were a couple of acres of parking lot that were wide open dirt fields at the time. So, being a boy with very little brain and very much horsepower, he'd head to work a few minutes early each day, and just before going to work, would spend some time driving, spinning, and freewheelin' in this unfinished parking lot. One day, after a particular heavy North Texas downpour, the boy was off-roading in his Mustang in the deep mud of the unfinished parking lot. It was then when the boy learned an important lesson about construction. Curbs for parking lots and landscape islands are poured in place before the concrete of the parking lot. He learned this lesson as he hit the curb straight on traveling roughly 30 mph. The damage, as you can imagine, was extensive. So, the boy walked about 100 yards from the disabled car to the Mall. All the way, he was trying to come up with a way to keep his father from knowing about what had happened. But there was no escaping telling his Dad. Now, as you can imagine, his Dad was quite upset when he learned the full extent of the damages, and the underlying cause of the damages.

The Boy's father was prone to rant. And rant he did. But, the Boy had an ally. The Boy's grandmother was visiting from out of town. And in the middle of his father's rant the Grandmother spoke up. She said "Don't give him a hard time, he had on those new work shoes, that were probably too heavy for his feet. It's not his fault, his shoes were to heavy".

"YESS!!! The shoes Dad! It's the shoes!" explained the boy. The Dad didn't buy it. And really, neither did the boy. But in that moment he learned that he had someone in his corner, someone who thought along the same lines as himself. Someone, who would show extraordinary grace to the obviously guilty.

The name of the boy isn't really important. His Grandmother just happens to be my Grandmother, Gertrude, or Memaw or Granny Gann. She's well into her 90's now, living in the same town in Mississippi that she has for years. Maybe because I've spent the better part of the last year in a sort of deep spiritual introspection, that I've been thinking more and more about how I want my life lived, what legacy I want to pass on to my children and grandchildren, and how I want to affect people I come in contact with. The more I think about these things, the more I think I need to be like my Grandmother. Here's how.

First, and this is where it all starts, is the simple faith my Grandmother has. Unencumbered by inner debates of theological finer points, she simply lives her life with Christ. I don't know for certain, but I'm 90% sure she's never got into a debate with a Calvinist. I'm sure she believes in the rapture of the church, but at the same time she trusts God to do what God does, even if the rapture never happens. She hasn't attended "church" my entire life. Yet tithes routinly. She trusts God to work things out, and seeks to be like him, and prays that all of us do the same.

Second, she has nothing really, and manages to give it all away. Ever make one of those mental lists of items that you'd grab on your way out the door if there a fire? I have. And topping that list is the quilt she made me. It's ragged now, over used not just as a blanket, but as a tent by the kids, a picnic blanket by me and Vanessa, and a pallet by our dog when we aren't looking. It really should be framed and preserved at this point. What I love most about it is that she took what she had - time and my Mother's old maternity dresses - and made me something just for me. I'm not unique here. All of her children, and grandchildren, and countless others have a quilt she made especially for them. Maybe in my life I need to stop writing checks to charities and missions and get my hands dirty. Pour my time and energy to demonstrating my love to other people. A custom, tangible gift of love from me to someone who needs it.

I have a tendency to make snap judgments of people. I'm the star of my own movie, and when people don't behave according to the script, I write them off as 'idiots', or worse. I remember a time when I was a child - maybe 7 or 8 years old. All of my Mom's side of the family were gathered at my Grandmother's house to do what the Gann clan does best; talk and eat. A group of adults were talking about a particular man in the community. He was a sorry individual. No good. Corrupt. Dishonest. You name it. The conversation went on for a while and the longer it went, the worse he got. Finally, after stopping short of blaming him for Vietnam and rampant inflation, there was a lull in the conversation. At this point my Grandmother said something that has stuck with me ever since. She said "He sure drives a pretty car though". And with that, the conversation was over. He might have personally been responsible for all manner of evil in the world, but she saw - an called attention too - the only positive thing that could be said. He drove a pretty car. I wish to God I could be more like that. Instead of pointing out all thats wrong with who I meet, I want to see the positive. I want to see the pretty car. I want to be that full of Grace.

Grace to accept people for who they are. Love to give with no thought of anything in return. Faith that simply trusts God to be who God is. What more, I ask, is there? What else is there to achieve?

My own son is shaping up to be a lot like his Dad. That means there will be hard lessons he has to learn, and probably ample opportunity for me to rant, like my Dad (like when he opens every single Christmas present with his name on it and not waking anyone up where we could enjoy seeing it, or invites all of his friends over on Saturday and forgetting to tell us until the doorbell rings). I hope that when those times come, I'll have learned from Granny Gann to take a deep breath, collect myself, and think that maybe, just maybe, his shoes are too heavy.

Thank you Mamaw. Happy Mother's Day.

Scattershooting Wondering Whatever Happened To The Last 370 or So Days....

- Hard to believe, but last Sunday marked one year since Mom passed.  It seems that it took most of the year just to process what happened.  The anniversary was easier due to the amazing amount of emails, texts and notes I received.  Don't know that I can thank you all enough for your thoughtfulness.  I don't think I have ever thought about the anniversaries of deaths and what that means to the family members prior to last week.  I will now.

-  Vanessa came up with a great idea to commemorate the one-year mark.  Instead of mourning, we got up, ate a big southern breakfast (complete with grits!) and then spent the day a the beach.  We set aside some time to remember Mamaw, and celebrate her life, and to celebrate our lives.  Again, Vanessa comes through and proves she's too smart to be married to me.  (Please don't tell her though....)

- Of course the Mavs Winning the NBA Championship on Sunday went a long way in easing the pain....

- Last year, Em wrote a hit song titled Cop Got Arrested.  It was a long epic tale with 19 verses that rivaled Wreck of The Edmund Fitzgerald in length.  She followed that with Cop's Son Got Arrested (It Runs In The Family)*.  As many sophomoric efforts, it didn't measure up to the original.  But this summer she has revealed her latest song Nurse Got Infected, and let me tell you, it's gold.  A pretty good melody plus lyrics that show that she's matured, including;

The Nurse got an infection

Cause she made to close of a connection,

oh, won't you have some affection

for the Nurse who got the infection,

it's enough to make you sing

'what the heck son?'

cause the nurse got an infection..

We'll upload a video to YouTube soon.

-  Vanessa and I just finished Love Wins; A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived by Rob Bell.  The same book that caused such a stir and controversy.  Many claimed that Rob Bell is a Universalist.  There have been articles and books written to contradict Bell.  I don't think Bell is a universlist.  I do think that he asks questions for which there are no easy answers in the current American culture landscape.  I think he makes us question some of the conventional wisdom that we just repeat without ever really thinking about.  I think he has, as a result, shown that what passes for apologetics theses days is nothing but sound bites and hyperbole.  Apologetics shouldn't reflect the "debates" that take place on Fox, CNN or MSNBC - name calling, style over substance, one upsmanship - but that's what it has become.  I wonder if the same people who are screaming today against Bell would have the same criticisms of C.S. Lewis' The Great Divorce.  Because in the end, Love Wins reaches the same conclusions, just in a less articulate, hipster kind of way.  My over all impression was "meh", but I don't think I am the target audience. 

-  I'll be running (read: walking) in the Camp Pendelton Mud Run tomorrow.  Not sure how I got talked into it, but if you don't hear from me by 2PM, call a search party....



*I'm not making this up

That's My King!

Have a Blessed Resurection Day!


That's My King! from Albert Martin on Vimeo.

When I In Awesome Wonder...

There is something about vacations.  It's not just the week away from work, phone calls, email and voicemail that helps relax me.  And although a week away from the routine is therapeutic, there's more to it.  For me, the best thing about a vacation is the ability to take time away from being task oriented, schedule driven, and bound by chores and let my mind wander.  To just think with out interruption.  It helps when you spend a total of 14 hours of driving with the kid's watching movies and the wife reading.  But it seems that this last trip really stood out for the serious contemplation time I had, and the things I learned.

When we planned the trip, I agreed only if I could spend at least one day, preferably two, sitting poolside somewhere with nothing but a lounge chair and the Kindle.  Since Las Vegas is only four hours away and next to one of our destinations, it would be a perfect place.  I had been to Vegas 5 or 6 times prior, all on business.  This would be my first time to experience Vegas as a vacationer.  I'm not a fan of manufactured fun.  You know, the places where you behave a certain way because your supposed to behave that way when you are there.   Vegas is the king of those places, and I don't get much of what happens there.  Likewise, I'm not a big fan of hype.  Vegas thrives on it.  A Hotel that looks like a pyramid!  Fountains that shoot water higher and better than those fountains in your hometown!  You'll have fun!  Live like a member of the rat pack!

Too good to be true.  I left the city with a "it's cool and all, but..." taste in my mouth.  Don't get me wrong, I got two full days by the pool, finished two books, the kids had fun in the pool and they got room service!  But the reality is that Vegas left me wanting.  Unsatisfied.  Unable to live up to the promises that it advertises.  The Hype can't live up to the reality.

Next we drove to the Hoover Dam.  First, let me say, it is cool.  Especially to a construction nerd like myself.  It is an impressive feat of engineering and construction, especially considering the 1930's technology that delivered it.  But I was just as equally impressed with the new bridge that went over the canyon and dam.  Maybe I've seen too many documentaries on the Discover or Science channel, but I was expecting...more. 

By now, we are at Wednesday of the trip that started on Sunday, and you are probably thinking I'm not having fun.  Quite the contrary.  I've been with my family - in the same room - for 96 hours straight.  I've read a couple of books, I'm relaxed, and we've eaten very well.  If the vacation had ended there (and for a brief time, I thought it would - car trouble, of course), it would have been worth it.  It's just that, well, you know that feeling you get when you've had fun, but you were just hoping for something a little bit more...exciting, or fulfilling?  Like eating a meal at Applebees.  It's good and all, but, you've had better.  Vegas and the dam were like that.  Good, better than working, but not as satisfying as one would like.  Neither place was what I could call transcendent.

I've never understood the appeal of the desert.  We live less than an hour's drive over the mountains from the desert, and many of our friends and neighbors take weekend trips to camp and play there.  Not to mention the people who live there.  I understand that even less. John Steinbeck wrote that the desert is a "mysterious wasteland, a sun punished place". I prefer the woods of Mississippi, the creeks and lakes of Texas, or the mountains and ocean around us in California.  But during the long drives through the desert, I was surprised by the beauty of it.  Steinbeck continues however,  "..in the war of sun and dryness against living things, life has secrets of survival...the desert..might well be the last stand of life against unlife".  The sage and Joshua Trees, scrub brush and wild flowers surviving against the odds.  Every action taken is done so to preserve life.  It's not as peaceful as the Sequoia's nor beautiful as the pine forests to be sure.  But one has to appreciate the desert for it's life.  Not only that but for the sheer size of it.  Flat beds of lakes long ago dried up that stretch for miles, only broken by random rocky outcroppings and the distant sun scarred hills on the horizon.  It all serves to make one feel rather small and insignificant; how molecular we are in the grand scheme of the universe.  Those dusty hills that were there long before I arrived, and will still stand long after I'm gone, took no notice of my passing through.

Finally, we arrived at the Grand Canyon.  I had mentally prepared myself to be underwhelmed.  But honestly, nothing could have prepared for me for the scale, beauty and grandeur that I encountered.  No hype, picture or written description could come close to the reality.  We took over 430 photos on the trip.  420 of which were taken at the Grand Canyon.  Everywhere you turn, a shadow casts colors upon the rocks, revealing or concealing what is inside and below.  The wide Colorado River appears to be a string laid out at the bottom on the canyon.  And the sheer scale of it all is mind boggling.

As we sat at the western-most spot of the southern rim to watch the sun gracefully set over the canyon., I couldn't help but remember the words to the great old hymn How Great Thou Art;

O Lord my God,

When I in awesome wonder

Consider all the works Thy Hand hath made,

I see the stars,

I hear the mighty thunder,

Thy pow'r throughout the universe displayed;

When through the woods

And forest glades I wander

I hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees;

When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur

And hear the brook,

And feel the gentle breeze;

Then sings my soul,

My Saviour God, to Thee,

How great Thou art!

How great Thou art!

I was even so inspired to wake up the next morning and hike in the dark to a recommended spot and watch the sun reappear.  Very out of character for me, I know.  But the scale and beauty and awe of the scene made me want to see all I could before we returned home. 

And that's when I realized I had learned a lesson that I should have known all along.  Maybe I did know it and had forgotten, but was reminded again of the simple formula:

GOD MADE > MAN MADE

Simple. Our soul longs for something bigger, for complete satisfaction.  Humans can make some cool things.  Humans can stop rivers and make the desert bloom and create a version of foreign lands, and endless entertainment, but they lack what God put in his creation; His transcendence.  The peace that comes from knowing that I might be small to the desert, but no matter how insignificant I feel, God remembers my name.  The beauty of his creation reflects his nature, and in nature we can experience him, and know him more. 

Vegas was good.  The Hoover Dam was good.  But the Canyon, and the desert and the family I was with - all things He made - were Grand.  Satisfying.  Fulfilling. 



Asher's Weather Video

Asher did another video for a school project.  Last year it was about a Mission, this year, it's about weather...Enjoy!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjPdA6wKjoU