They say, that behind every good man, is an even better woman. For as much as I strive to be the best man I can be, the truth is, I wouldn’t be half of what I am today if I didn’t have Kristy. She is my best friend, confidant, biggest fan, mother of my children and most importantly, my wife.

While today’s culture strives to find strength in the uncommitted lover, nothing will ever replace the wealth and depth of love that comes from someone whose committed to you forever; where a vow isn’t something you say today and let go of tomorrow; where you live in and out of the feelings of forevermore. It’s there that your joy is full, complete, and overflowing.

My wife is the best gift I’ve ever been given.

Her humor brings me delight. Her smile brings me joy. Her beauty draws me closer. Her heart brings inspiration. Her intelligence spurs me on to greater depths. Her perspective changes mine. Her wittiness keeps me on my toes. Her presence brings me peace. Her smell stops me in my tracks. Her touch gives me goose bumps. Her laughter begs me to laugh with her. Her desire to be the best, motivates me to go the extra mile. Her eyes lure me in. Her kiss heightens my senses. Her life is my destiny. For all of these things, any many, many more, I will be her man, her husband, her best friend, the father of her children and her sweet old lover.

I love you baby.

I was going through some recent pictures of Savannah, my 11-month old, tonight and found some gems. Here are a few. You can see the rest here.

8:15pm: I kissed my wife goodbye as she got in the car to go home. My buddy, Jim Cowart, and I were in the middle of an interesting conversation about politics and government. I told Kristy that I’d wrap it up in 10 to 15 minutes. We were no where close to ending the topic of discussion.

9:42pm: Still talking. Jim’s wife calls. He answers—on speaker phone. All I could hear was the tone in Stephanie’s voice. It didn’t matter what she said. What mattered was, he was late getting home. I hung in suspense as I watched Jim wiggle through the call. It was clear that he made a mistake in not contacting his wife…until she said, “Kristy just called me looking for Kyle…” —oh no.

9:44pm: Whip the phone out of my back pocket like a cowboy drawing his six-shooter. I’ve missed two calls and a text message—oh no.

9:45pm: “Hi babe…” That’s all I got to say before I too, got an earful.

What proceeded to come out of my wife’s mouth for the next few minutes was motivated out of pure concern and worry. I had told her I’d be home and I wasn’t. Her frustration and worry was well deserved. However, out of the frustration came a couple of really funny comments.

Kristy: Have you solved the world’s problems yet?
Kyle: We’re about to. I think we’re getting close.
Kristy: Well good, because you’re gonna have some more to deal with when you get home!

A minute later…

Kyle: Do you want me to bring some chocolate home? Would that make you feel better?
Kristy: You better bring something good home!

In 2002, my wife and I relocated to Orlando, FL to be part of the launch team for Relevant Media Group. There, I spent 4.5 years targeting, reaching and retaining the 18-34 demographic. It wasn’t easy, but it was fun and challenging. It was there that I was awakened to one of my primary goals in life; pointing my generation back to Christ.

Barna Group reported in 2003 that an alarming 58% of twentysomethings who were active church-goers as teenagers will no longer be active in a church by their 30th birthday (Barna 2003). This has been and still is, the fuel for the above mentioned goal. It is my desire that if/when Barna does this same study again that number decreases to less than 50%. Consider this one of my “big hairy audacious goals!”

A couple of weeks ago, Motiveight took on a new client that has me turning my focus to the 18-34 demographic again. This opportunity has re-awakened my “BHAG.”

One of the major advantages I have, this time around, is access to a plethora of statistics and research. The project that we are embarking on is for the long haul. Given that, I thought that I would document here what the current pulse of the 18-34 demo is according to recent MRI reports. Here’s what we can expect from this group:

• They are more likely, than the average, to be “very liberal” and less likely to be “very conservative.”
• Only 25% of them vote
• They not very interested in environmental causes
• They like to watch: Adult Swim (#1), BET, Comedy Central, MTV, TBS, TLC and VH-1, to name a few. They are less likely to watch the news and weather
• They are less likely to feel that there is too much sex on TV
• They love to show off (rated ridiculously high on this one—almost 2x more likely than the average American)
• They consider themselves more fashionable than others
• They love concerts, clubs/bars, chess (who would have thought!), billiards, dancing, electronic games, video games (#1), karaoke, comic books and fantasy sports leagues (#2)
• They don’t like: birdwatching (can you blame them), attending classical/opera performances, woodworking, book clubs, or live theater
• Favorite sites: Wikipedia, MTV.com, ticketmaster, Monster.com, Yahoo news, Amazon.com eBay, Facebook (#1), Myspace and YouTube

Regarding Religion:

• They are less likely to believe in creationism, believe the Bible literally, give to religious organizations or to support prayer in schools

It’s safe to say that this information isn’t too surprising. However, if you’re interested in the 18-34 demo like I am, the journey ahead is going to require unparalleled creativity and wisdom. This generation will not give room for copycats. We have no choice but to be fresh, provoking and revolutionaries.

Are you surprised by what you just read?

At the office, we use a lot of software to help manage our processes. One of the primary systems that we use is 37signals.com’s project management software, Basecamp. While I love the ease of use, simplicity and overall functionality, my passion for Basecamp was rivaled to an untouchable level today.

Shortly before lunch, my employee, Shannon and I were talking about Basecamp:

Shannon: If Basecamp were a boy, I’d want to date him. I love it that much!
Me: Wouldn’t you want to marry it since you love it so much?
Shannon: It depends on how many upgrades happened during our relationship.

Today, Dr. James Dobson will air an 18-minute segment on his radio show discussing what he believes to be Obama’s distortion of the Bible to fit his own worldview and how he’s pushing a “fruitcake interpretation” of the Constitution. While this story provides context, I write of another purpose.

I’ve held a theory for the past couple of months based on the following question: Will the conservative right cast their vote for President this general election? I ask in another way. Due to the current candidates liberal positions on the issues that matter most to them, is it possible that they will not cast their vote for President at all?

When reading the story first mentioned in this post, I came across a statement that led me to believe that my above theory may come true:

“Dobson has not backed off his statement that he could not in good conscience vote for McCain because of concerns over the Arizona senator’s conservative credentials. Dobson has said he will vote in November but has suggested he might not vote for president.” [emphasis added]

While not one candidate is perfect, this general election is going to have us all searching for which one is right for each of us. While I understand the conservative’s tension between McCain and Obama, I believe that God has still ordained this election as-is. Given that, it is our duty as American’s and stewards of our individual voice, to explore, question and determine which candidate deserves our vote. To overlook this privilege would be a shame.

Speaking of miracles, here’s my baby at 10, almost 11 months

Right before church

Hangin’ with me.

If you’ve read this blog over the years, no doubt that you’ve shared the highs and low of the process that Kristy and I have gone through to start our family. After six infertility treatments (five artificial insemination and one round of IVF), two miscarriages and a whirlwind of emotions, last year on July 17, Savannah Grace was celebrated in ridiculous fashion as she made her way into the world. Needless to say, we were one of the lucky ones to have had our girl after going through so much.

You might be wondering why we had to go through all of those procedures? We were too. I’m not talking about why God made us go through all of that, rather what was going on with either of our bodies to purpose us with this process. While we never figured it out, we had always concluded that our future attempts would take the same road.

We were wrong.

March 2008, we found out that we were pregnant. Much to our surprise, we headed to the doctor to confirm what five, yes 1-2-3-4-5 pregnancy sticks had already told us. It was true, but so were the signs of miscarriage. Days later we lost our third baby.

Normally, this would have devastated us but something remarkable had happened; we got pregnant on our own. That’s never, repeat NEVER, happened before. We hesitated to claim our healing, our miracle, but we did. Remarkably, the joy of the miracle cast a shadow on our grief.

The very next month, it happened. Pregnant again!

As of today, we’re rounding the bend towards 11 weeks. The baby is healthy and growing.

Over the past five years, we celebrated, laughed, cried, been angry, demanded answers, agreed to disagree with God, and wondered if we’d ever be a family. Today, we’re a family of three with another on the way.

Miracles do happen.

The lack of posting over the past few months is simply just one result of … procrastination. I’ve made this blog to be bigger than it is, in my head. I’ve imagined that I could build an audience and create provoking, better yet, captivating content. Yet, in the end, I write nothing because I can’t decide what to write on.

I’ve left out the details that matter in my life. I’ve overlooked the moments, really the God-breathed benchmarks, in search of the perfect topic to bring in the traffic. For all of this vanity, I did what I hoped to not do; nothing.

This blog outlet should and will return to being a place where I write what I want, need and hope to remember in years to come. While this may be an obvious conclusion to many of you, to me, it’s taken some time to come full circle.

I don’t know what’s next or when my next post will arrive, but I’m already looking forward to it. That’s much more than I could have said yesterday.

When I was in junior high school, my parents used to direct church productions. I remember sitting behind this massive spotlight doing what I could to follow-spot the soloist as they performed.

If I was lucky enough, the script would call for the use of gel filters to soften the target(s) with color. If done right, my efforts would alter the audiences perspective and emotions. Personal filters have the same impact. The moment you “put them on” your perspective and emotions can instantly change.

• If your boss constantly speaks down at you, the next time he offers a word of praise, at best, you’ll be pleasantly surprised. Most likely, you’ll question his sincerity.
• If you’re a know-it-all, people will stop listening to you because they don’t trust what you have to say; you never listen and it’s apparently, all about you.
• If you’re a perfectionist, you’ll always feel like a failure because you can’t define, therefore obtain, perfection. Others will think that you’re personal expectations are too high and that you’ll never be happy until you lower your expectations.
• If you grew up with every want satisfied, chances are you think that life is easy and plentiful. Others will think you’re spoiled and ungrateful.
• If you’re constantly feeling behind on your to-do list, then you’ll feel the anxiety of perceived under performance, fear of failure and disappointing others.

The list can go on and on, but the point is, filters are perceptions based on past experiences. They don’t just affect how you view people and situations, they also affect how others view you.

What personal filters do you regularly see though?