An Admiral showed up several years ago at one of our men’s retreats in Utopia. As he began to share his story during the introductions, he said that he wasn’t a churchgoer and really didn’t know why he was there. He told us that a couple weeks before the retreat a family member in another state was struggling with substance abuse and so he jumped on a Southwest flight in the northeast and flew to the treatment center in the west. Somewhere along the way he reached into the seat back pocket for a magazine to read. Instead his hands felt a book. He pulled it out and discovered a golf novel strategically left there by a previous passenger. Inside the cover was a hand written message that simply said,  “This is for you, enjoy.” The attendants had missed it during clean up on the previous flight.

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One day while hitting practice balls at the original Utopia driving range, the owner drove by. He lived near the 8th green of this minimalist nine-holer we affectionately called a goat ranch. That’s the name given in Texas to golf courses of this caliber. He stopped to say hello. I asked how he conceived the idea to build a driving range and course in the middle of nowhere. His name was Wayne. His answer was priceless: “Well sonny, I am an ole goat rancher. When the goat business went belly up I had to do something with my property so I built a golf course.” It indeed was a goat ranch and worse yet, a defunct one! Wayne passed away a few years later not knowing how profound his decision to build a course would be to the world.

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The true journey of awe is better than fiction. 

Several years back we were living in Fort Worth, Texas. I was commuting back and forth to San Antonio every other week to work with the San Antonio Spurs. An opportunity came about that would allow us to move to San Antonio to have more time with the team, as well as start a “mental game” golf academy at a major resort. But there was a catch…

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A few years back I was invited to play the perennial number one ranked golf course in the world, Pine Valley.  It is on every golfer’s bucket list. The first interesting aspect of the invitation was that I was living part time in Utopia, Texas at the time. My course in Utopia was pretty much the opposite of Pine Valley, if you catch my drift. Secondly, the invitation also included the sharing of my faith with a group of men at this particular gathering. So in essence the trip started with awe. Only God could orchestrate such an invitation.

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The magnolia tree gives life to the noticer. It’s aroma and brilliant white flowers bring hope each spring that lasts through mid summer.  I look for them as one looks for treasure. Glimpses of heaven abound if we look carefully. The magnolia bloom is one...

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A good friend of mine passed away last month. I cried and smiled simultaneously. Cried because I miss him and because he died young. But I smiled because I know where he is today. The story is one of true awe. It will move fast so just be in awe and know this is better than fiction...

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So my daughter is sitting in our house in Fredericksburg, Texas last April. Fredericksburg is an idyllic town in the Hill Country of Texas, reminiscent of a Norman Rockwell painting. We had been living there for seven years in an amazing little 1932 restored bungalow two blocks off main-street. I loved this town. It was a place where I could breathe deep. 

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“What do you want from me.” He asked. The two blind men said, “To see.” I read that recently in Matthew and heard Him ask, “David, what do you want from me.” Wow, a God who listens, a God who speaks, and a God who wants to know what my heart longs for. I thought about it and became sort of self conscious. I was stumped because I didn’t want to say the wrong thing, ask for the wrong thing.

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