Kevin DeShazo

I’m very much not a violent person.  But I would shoot this guy in the foot as soon as we landed.

It seems like every summer Megan and I start watching a new show.  Let’s face it, the summer tv selection is pretty dim.  Outside of So You Think You Can Dance and Wipeout, you’ve got nothing.  And we all know the new format of SYTYCD is pretty lame.  I mean, there’s no reason to have a top 10 rather than a top 20, just to bring back has-beens from years past.  Dominic was creepy during his original time on the show.  We don’t need more of that.  Less Dominic, that’s what we need.  Wait, guys don’t watch SYTYCD?  Me either.

Last summer, we started Heroes.  We got hooked, got caught up on past seasons, then they cancelled it.  Time, wasted.  This year our summer show is Friday Night Lights.  We watched one of the new episodes and decided, “Hey, this is pretty legit.  We need to get caught up on this.”  Three weeks later we are almost finished with Season 3 (thank you Netflix streaming on the Wii.).  One word: dominating.  This show might be my all-time favorite.  Better than Seinfeld.  Better than House.  Better than LOST.  Did I just say “better than LOST?”  Believe it kids. Look, I went to High School at one of the top football schools in the country.  We won the state championship every year from my 8th grade year until a year after I graduated (that would be 6 years in a row).  We have multiple players playing Division 1 football and in the NFL.  High School football was kind of a big deal for us.  And everybody hated us for it (which I am still, amazingly enough, reminded of to this day every time I say where I went to HS).  For the record, I weighed approximately 72lbs in high school, so no, I wasn’t collecting rings.  My high school memories are part of what draws me to Friday Night Lights.  Outside of that, the characters (and actors) are amazing.  Anybody would want their kid to play for coach Eric Taylor.  His motto is: Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose.  Freaking love that.  It also makes me rethink High School.  I look back on it and think about the people I judged without knowing their situation.  Who did I make fun of who was living at home, without any parents, having to care for their sick grandmother?  Who did I ignore that lived with an alcoholic waste of a mother?  We all knew these people.  We stayed away from them because they were “dirty” or “bad influences” or “not going anywhere with their life.”  Really, we just didn’t take the time to know their stories.  Hopefully I can convince my son to do it differently.

Check out this clip from the end of Season 1.  The star QB, Jason Street (think Peyton Manning, JR), takes a nasty hit during a game that puts him in the hospital.  The team, and the town, is trying to figure out how to cope.

Are you a fan of Friday Night Lights?  What is your favorite show?

I say I believe in a faith that can move mountains…though I’m not sure I could move a mustard seed.

I say I believe in a faith that can raise the dead…though I’m not sure my faith can raise even my head.

I say I believe in a faith that can walk on water…though I’m unsure I can even take a step.

I say I believe in a God of love…though right now all I can muster up is anger, frustration, disappointment.

I say I believe in a God of hope…though doubt runs through my veins.

In Pete Wilson’s book Plan B, he asks a question.

What would you do in your life if you were absolutely confident that God was with you?

I have hated that question for the last 2 months.  Hated it.  I will tell you day and night that I think God is with me.  I’ll write about it.  I’ll sing about it.  I’ll meet in small groups about it.  But I won’t dare live it.  I won’t dare believe it.  The last 18 months have been pretty ridiculous.  Without going into detail, let’s just say it has been tough.  Tough for a person who, for 26 years, nothing in life ever went wrong.  Literally, ever.  Everything I touched turned to gold.  I’m not being boastful, I’m just being honest.  For 18 months, everything I’ve touched has turned to death.  I had an employee about 4 years ago tell me, “Kevin, I hate to say this, but something bad is going to happen to you.  We don’t go through life without difficulty.”  Those words ring in my head every day.  Every.  Single.  Day.  And anger builds.  I wish I could run out on some bridge, yelling and screaming at God like I’m in some Hollywood movie, and he would magically show up.  That would be easier, I think.  I’d like to say that through trials I’m learning more about my faith.  And in some sense I am.  More than that, I’m waiting.  Waiting to see if He is ever going to show up.  If something is ever going to give.  If at some point this God that moves mountains, calms seas and raises the dead will show His face.  In the meantime, I’ll keep telling you that I believe it while thinking, “do as I say, not as I do.”

photo attribution

It’s 4th of July weekend.  A weekend where we remember our freedom.  Remember those that fought and died for it.  Remember those that are still fighting for it.  And we blow stuff up.  Fireworks are obviously a big part of 4th of July.  Before you attempt to put on a show that would make Steven Spielberg and James Cameron cry, watch this video from my friend Brad – give a few weeks back at IgniteOKC.  Enjoy.

Happy 4th of July!

First, we had the Swagger Wagon.  Now, Dad Life.  This was done by Church On The Move out of my hometown of Tulsa, OK.  Enjoy.

Yep.  That just happened.

It is here. June 24, 2010. The day of the iPhone 4 release. It seems many of my friends are in line waiting for their local Apple stores to open. Lines of over 300 people. Waiting for a phone. Amazing. I have yet to order mine. It hurts just typing that sentence. Megan, on the other hand, did pre-order. This will be her first iPhone (nice way to break into the iPhone world). And it arrived. Yesterday. When I checked the status and it said “Delivered: On Porch” (really, that’s what it said) I freaked out. Then I got home and tested the little piece of glory out. Here’s my review:

Wow. That’s it. There’s nothing else I can say.  Just, wow.

Are you getting the new iPhone?

I’ll admit it.  I’m one of “those” Americans.  You know what I’m talking about.  Those who hate soccer for 3.9 out of 4 years then acts excited about it during the World Cup.  I have no problem admitting that.  I didn’t play soccer growing up, don’t really understand it, but I can get excited about the World Cup.  But it is new for me.  I didn’t love it until four years ago.  It was just after March Madness, and we had hired a guy from Portugal at our office.  He saw how we pretty much shut down the office for the basketball tournament, with brackets covering our walls.  He innocently asked, “So what do you guys do for the World Cup?”  Really?  My response was, “Uh, work.”  He was crushed.  The World Cup came around, I saw how passionate he was about it, and I started watching some games.  He shared stories about how, during Portugal games, the entire country shuts down.  People fill pubs, pour into the streets, sing, dance and cheer together for the entirety of the game.  So I found myself glued to the TV.  I loved seeing countries come together and screaming their brains out for 90 minutes, shaking stadiums with their unified chants.  I was blown away.  The US only gets that unified over the Twilight Saga and its hatred for Britney Spears.  I found myself staying up late to watch games.  Getting up early to watch games.  I was watching soccer.  The one sport I had always hated (besides hockey, which still sucks).

It ended, Italy won, and I didn’t care about soccer anymore.  Four years later, the World Cup is back.  And I’ve been pumped.  I’ve watched as many games as I can – mostly online, but still.  The US had a huge match against England that ended in a tie.  I know, I know, ties are ridiculous.  I agree, but still it was a riveting game and the US was lucky to come out with a tie (thanks to England’s weak goal keeper).  Then came Slovenia.  The US was down 2-0.  Not good.  The second half was amazing.  Landon Donovan, a guy I can’t stand, had a ridiculous goal.  2-1.  Then Bradley scored.  2-2.  Game on.  In the final 10 minutes, Edu scored.  Game, set, match, US.  Wait, it didn’t count?  There was a penalty?  Of what?  On who?  Questions we still don’t have answers to, but it was ridiculous.  Here’s a picture of the US getting bear hugged on the goal.  Not sure where the US penalty was:

The US tied.  Hearts broken.  Outrage.  Suddenly America is interested in soccer.  Amazingly, the team handled it well.  Then Algeria.  Win and you advance.  Lose and you go home.  Tie and you still need some help.  I was impressed, the US came out firing.  Barely missing on some shots, but playing well.  Then Dempsey scores!  Wait, what?!  Offsides?  Clearly FIFA hates the United States.  Their quality control is worse than BP’s.  Here’s the mysterious off-sides:

If I’m the US, I probably quit right there.  Either that or have Dempsey, a Texan, calf-rope the ref into submission.  Ridiculous.  The US had what seemed like 10 shots on goal that barely missed.  England had scored in their match against Slovenia, so the US had to score in order to not go home.  Honestly, the US deserved to beat Algeria.  They had played incredible.  But after 90 minutes, 0-0.  They were awarded 4 minutes of extra time (something I still don’t understand, but sure do love right now).  45 seconds into extra time, Landon Donovan scored.  The US would go on to not only win the game, but win their group and advance.  Redemption.  I could watch this all day.

Go Soccer.  Go America.

To the one who so affectionately calles me “Da-ee”:

Employee, Boss, Manager, Assistant, Co-worker, Graduate, Neighbor, Director, CEO, Friend.  No title carries the weight, responsibility, honor or joy as Daddy.

You light up a room with your smile.

You erase the worries of the world with your laugh.

You break even the hardest of hearts with your smile.

You make me Daddy.

I love you Gabe.  To be your “Da-ee” is all any man could ever ask for.

What a day.  On the evening news last night (Sunday), they stated that there was a 20% chance of rain today.  I think they meant to say there’s a great chance that we would get 20″ of rain.  Because that’s just about what happened.  The thunderstorms started overnight.  Which is awesome.  Nothing beats sleeping during a rain/thunder storm.  I got up, got ready and headed out to Free Coffee Monday (yet another reason to love OKC).  I made it to the front of the neighborhood before running into this:

There typically is not water covering the front of my neighborhood.  As the day went on Edmond, the suburb of OKC where I live, got 11 inches of rain.  Most of that fell within 5 hours.  It is what my friend Blake lovingly called the Aquageddon.  We were completely blocked in by the two creeks on either side of our neighborhood that were flooded.  Thankfully, our house is near the back of our neighborhood, so we were never in any danger.  We watched news coverage of the flooding off and on all day.  At one point we watched (on the news) a deepwater rescue take place where the rescue boat, after rescuing the victim, was overtaken by water and sank, leaving the victim and three rescue workers clinging to a tree, waiting to be rescued.  It was crazy to see our city under water.  Visions of Nashville’s recent flooding crept in.  Thankfully, we didn’t have near the devastation that occurred in Nashville – though those that lost their homes would disagree with me.  Yet again, Oklahoma City made national headlines…for our weather.  In the last 7 months we’ve had record setting snow storm, devastating tornadoes, a historic hailstorm, and now flooding.  If I start hearing locusts in the distance, we’re moving.  Here are some shots from the day.  Though it was a horrible day with a lot of people losing a lot of possessions, no lives were lost.  OKC has come together, as we always do, to help those in need.  People communicated (mostly through Twitter), people responded, people were taken care of.  A day of tragedy turned into a day of unity.

this is a neighborhood just a mile north of us

Pretty intense stuff.  My friend Ryan put together a great compilation of pics from the day.  Check them out here.  As I write this, they are saying more storms are headed toward OKC this evening, so we could be in for a long night.

John Robert Wooden.  Coach Wooden.  The greatest coach ever.  Pro, college, any sport.  Nobody compares.  Not Lombardi, not Bryant, not coach K, not Belicheck.  John Wooden passed away last week at the age of 99.  10 NCAA Championships.  7 in a row.  Countless players mentored.  Never made more than $35k in a year.  Never asked for a raise.  Greatest coach ever, but an even better man and husband.

In my last job I went through some leadership training, part of which included reading one of Wooden’s books.  Growing up a basketball fan, I always admired Coach Wooden as a coach.  This book gave some serious insight into his wisdom, his faith and who he was as a man.  He was, admittedly, a man of faith.  One quote that sticks out to me of his is this, “I have always tried to make it clear that basketball is not the ultimate. It is of small importance in comparison to the total life we live. There is only one kind of life that truly wins, and that is the one that places faith in the hands of the Savior.  If I were ever prosecuted for my religion, I truly hope there would be enough evidence to convict me.”  Not exactly the type of words we are used to hearing from today’s coaches.  He is a man that you would die to play for.  To learn from.  His leadership lessons will go on for years.  On the day he died, tons of quotes of his were flying around the internet.  It was pretty amazing to witness.  Out of all of his inspirational quotes, one sticks out to me the most.  I read it during my last job and it pops back into my head on almost a weekly basis.

Don’t mistake activity for achievement.

Pretty simple.  I could write an entire post on just this quote, but to be brief, it helps me to be deliberate about my actions.  Being busy doesn’t mean I’m actually doing anything.  Having my calendar full doesn’t mean I’m having an impact.  Be deliberate about your actions.  Think before you do.  Don’t mistake activity for achievement.  Thanks Coach.

What is your favorite Coach Wooden quote?