john mcginley

I love God's little way of helping me see Him in the most unusual ways. The other morning, I was heading out to go to work and stopped to grab my pile of stuff on the end of the counter. This is where I leave things that I need to remember to take with me for work: keys, access card, cell phone, and anything else for the day. The night before, I had put a banana on top of the pile (trying to be good about eating something in the morning). When I was gathering my things, I didn't see the banana. I looked around to see if I had placed it somewhere else, if my daughter had taken it with her, or if one of the dogs had gotten it. I was just a little bit frustrated and then realized - it was in my hand the whole time! On the way to work, still laughing at myself, I had the sudden thought that God is like that. We look for Him and look for Him and, suddenly, notice that he was right there with us all along. We ask Him for his grace and blessings, not realizing that He has alrea

I've discovered my one word : Heel. That was more difficult than I thought it would be. I considered several other words, and almost picked one or two of them, even feeling that they weren't quite right. Here's what I posted on My One Word: Heel! This command tells the dog to get in the right place. It's a place of obedience, discipline, following, and servitude. It's not pulling the leash trying to get out in front and it's not lagging behind, refusing to be pulled along. I find myself needing to get back into my proper place - alongside Jesus, being humble, trusting, obedient, disciplined, and serving. "You have been told, o man, what is good, and what the Lord requires of you: Only to do the right and to love goodness, and to walk humbly with your God." (Micah 6:8) I'm not comparing myself to a dog in any derogatory way, just using the analogy. I think it's a good one. And it feels right. In other news, I'm off to CYO Convention in

The weekend is coming fast! I've been exchanging emails the past two days with 3 guys who, I have a feeling, will make this convention a crazy and memorable one. I'll be humbly sharing the stage with Rich Curran and Popple (Kyle Heimann and Daniel Harms). There's going to be a good deal of flying by the seat of our pants (seat of our pants? seats of our pant? seats of our pants's?) and maybe even some advanced swaying, but I trust that God is going to pull some amazing stuff together. Speaking of amazing, remember The Beav? Wally Cleaver: Boy, Beaver, wait'll the guys find out you were hanging around with a girl. They'll really give you the business. Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver: But gee, Wally, you hang around with girls and the guys don't give you the business. Wally Cleaver: Well, that's because I'm in high school. You can do a lot of stuff in high school without getting the business.

I seem to have moved on without even realizing it. I went for a run last night and loaded up my "Running" play list. None of the songs really did it for me. I kept fast-forwarding to the next song. I realized that all of the songs on there have some cancer link. Either they remind me of folks who were going through treatments when I was, remind me of friends who have passed away, or were really good motivators as I was trying to put my own body back together. None of it seemed relevant and was more of a distraction than anything. I think I need a new play list. And that is a very good thing. As for my one word , I'm still working on it. I can say it all in about 30 minutes, but not quite one word just yet. But in the process of trying to narrow it down, I ran across this from Micah: "You have been told, o man, what is good, and what the Lord requires of you: Only to do the right and to love goodness, and to walk humbly with your God." Micah 6:8 (NAB) T

Crazy dreams, bad coffee, and a conference call. A strange start to a typical day. Except that today I have a very strong feeling that God is moving. Two of my friends have been in Haiti for the past week. Their Facebook posts and Twitter updates pull my heart and remind me that I had crazy dreams in a very comfortable bed, drove my car on safe streets to get a cup of bad coffee, and am blessed to have the job I have, conference calls and all. My good friend Jeff sent me a link to this video from Audrey Assad. A few times in my life, I've sensed God moving like a mighty wind, stirring hearts into action around the world. As I type this, I'm listening for his voice, hoping to recognize it, and wondering what my response will be. CYO convention is right around the corner. I've been asked to give one of the keynote talks - an invitation that humbles, excites, and scares me all at the same time. It's the 50th anniversary of the convention in our diocese, so the convent