count down...

This is the first day of the last week of the first year of my first son's life.

I think that's worth blogging about.

a marathon not a sprint

The next time you find yourself looking out to the horizon consider this - how many boundaries are there between you and it and what are they?

A 30 second discussion with colleagues, looking out over a view from behind our offices, threw up these answers:

1. Lots - too many to specify
2. Physical boundaries: Fences, walls, trees, hedges, rivers, cows, private property. Personal boundaries: health/fitness, purpose/drive/motivation, navigational skills

I asked the question because I had been out for a run that morning. It wasn't going well until I realised that I had my focus on the ground in front of me. My drive was simply to cover distance but I needed more than that. I looked up and, in doing so, found motivation in the beauty of my surroundings. It probably helped a great deal as it meant I opened up my airways and improved my posture but gave profound mental and spiritual benefits too.

Suddenly I went from regretting every pace to wondering if I could keep going until I reached the horizon...and that's when I began noticing the boundaries. All of the things that would prevent me from getting there.

Until God stepped in.

Yeah, but look again at the bigger picture. Isn't it beautiful?

The scene before me became a living analogy for the race I'm running. The path marked out and the God given design on my life. It's not always going to be a level track on even ground. There will be times when what's underfoot throws me off balance. Occasions when I come up against barriers that I need to overcome or circumnavigate. There will even be moments when I lose sight of the horizon completely as I work my way down one side of a valley to get up the next.

I am not taking part in the 100m final. This is cross country.

big wave riding

Another moment where the qualities of ocean and sky seem to overlap.

I wrote this for you

I would stay up all night, every night for you.

I want to be there in every moment to share all time with you.

I recognise that there will be some challenges that you will need to face and overcome on your own - despite wanting me there.

I know there will be times when I will want to be there - when all you want is to step out on your own.

I’m not the Father spoken of in Psalm 139 but nonetheless I am blessed - for He has given you to me as my son and when the day comes that you call me ‘dad’ I will no doubt be unable to describe how that feels.

But I will spend my life showing you.

Through the peaks and the valleys. On the way up and back down. In the big and the small.

I want you to know

• I will always be with you.
• I will always be for you.

big picture/fine detail

A friend of mine is faced with a decision. A decision with two options. The problem is that both options are incredibly similar and so he is a little thrown. Chatting it over it seems to be that, to reach a conclusion, he can only rely on what he wants.

Is it that simple? That seems so selfish.

We discussed everything from the money and location to friends and family...but it all came out as swings and roundabouts.

I know what I'd do in his situation but it's not my decision to make. It seems what is incredibly important to me is a minor element for him.

What are your defining factors?

that sounds like a conversation for elevenses - social media hide and seek

Step 1 - I got myself a smart phone. Good times. Hopefully it's not going to out smart me but rather help my life progress forward whilst bringing together all that stuff I put out there into one place.

At least that's the plan.

Step 2 of this master plan involves the jiggery-pokery of navigating my way around social media galore. Different strokes for different folks so, depending on who you are, you can select from the following menu:

• LinkedIn - the chef special.
• Wordpress - a three course option for the discerning.
• Tweet me @JLACasey - recommended as part of a healthy, active lifestyle.
• Or just stay tuned right here for that home cooked feel.

Step 3 - Your turn. Count to 10, then come find me.

I don't even know you're name but...

I can't wait to meet you.

a very real miracle

With tomorrow being the official due date of my first baby I was doubly blessed last night in being able to hear it's heartbeat simply by resting my ear against my wife's stomach.


This day is not one I will easily forget.

attention to detail

it's been a long time

Once again I've neglected to keep this up to date but with good reason. Apparently the most stressful things you can do include:

• changing job
• moving house
• starting a family

In the last half a year we have experienced the first two and the third is due any minute now.


Here's to life never being the same again.

trees...

Ever had a time where there seems to be a particular focus? Conversations, thoughts, imagery. This last week seems to have included a lot about trees.

the reason for the season

With excitement and anticipation thoughts of tomorrow hang in the forefront of minds the world over. Normally the theme will be along the lines of 

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,

In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there.

but can I prompt you to change that perspective just for a moment at least?

Set aside all your filters and watch this.

Done that?

Awesome. At this point feel free to go. I'm not sure I've got anything to add but - if you are wanting a little more - hold onto that perspective just for a moment and read this. If it's too much in one go then just try this on for size.

Of course, all of this could possibly be over familiar or seemingly irrelevant but the point is that there's a much bigger picture to all of this. One that Jesus lived out over the course of 33 years (or so) but that God began way back and is still laying out today so, wherever you stand on 'faith' can I challenge you on one last thing? In amongst all of the stuff and noise of tomorrow consider where you've been and where you are going. Take a step back and look at your life as a whole. What story is it telling? What's the big picture and what is your motivation in the daily detail?

lights...camera...

It's nearly Christmas. This is exciting enough in itself already but this year there are a few additional components:

• Seeing a brand new nephew for the first time
• Meeting up with mates that I haven't seen in a long time
• Simply having time to do things that I don't normally

This last entry includes giving video editing a go. Prompted by this competition it's something that I've always wanted to do but never properly got round to. Maybe this will be the start of something wonderful but we'll see.

P.S. The pictures bear no relevance to this entry but I realised there aren't as many photos of Ed on here as I originally thought and people have been asking.

you'll need some ID...

Listen to this,
read this,
discuss...

We are often asked to verify who we are through identity,

I'll need your driver's licence or passport

but there's clearly still a part of my everyday which more readily identifies with something much more basic as I had this tune ringing through my mind getting dressed the other day.

Hair...check

shoes..check

brand new fit...looking cool..check

and I was looking in the mirror thinking "ooooh yes!" as I laced up my favourite trainers with which I'd taken the effort to coordinate my tshirt.

Now - I do stand by that which Lecrae has observed

Identity is found in the God we trust

Any other identity will self destruct

I'm not the shoes I wear. I'm not the clothers I buy.

I'm not the house I live in. I'm not the car I drive.

I'm not the job I work. You can't define my worth

by nothing on God's green earth

my identity is found in Christ.

so why is it that this stuff holds some value?


I enjoy that moment on a day off where I can get dressed in what I want to wear. Clothes in which I 'feel like me'. Yes, how you look carries heavy weight in the boardsports industry, but it's not peer pressure that causes me to feel this way. I simply like it.


I don't think it's controversial to suggest that maybe there's something of God in all of this? That the feeling of finding and belonging to a group who walk a certain route is in God's plan, just as Jesus was 'in' but not 'of'. Sometimes it's not a case of hitting 180* and walking in the other direction, but taking a bearing and heading in a slight fraction off that which people are experiencing already...ultimately leading to a huge difference further down the line.

it's all in the timing

Today happens to be:

1. 2 weeks until Christmas
2. 2 months until the due date of our first baby

Today is an exciting day.

on the first day...

My true love gave to me - a Wayne's World CD.


I'm constantly surprised when one of my senses awakens such vivid memories. As soon as I began playing it I was transported back to a holiday where my family did a house swap with a family from Dorset. Their house had a loft conversion which I nabbed and lived in for the week. The room was full of CDs and videos which I went through but one I played almost daily was the Wayne's World soundtrack. It was a time in my life when I was exploring what my own tastes were and this certainly hit the spot. I loved that film - much to my mum's dismay - and still do...not sure what that says about me.


Other memories tied into this holiday were a trip to a sea-life centre that had a touch pool, picking up a (comparatively) massive crab was simultaneously horrifying and exciting; my first taste of Nesquick, another moment my mum seemed to regret; and a walk down to Durdle Door.


That place is amazing, captivating and, when my wife and I recently revisited it, apparently still just as awe inspiring. The door itself is massive. One of those 'much bigger in real life' things. The vast ocean that it leads out into suddenly puts a whole other perspective on the scene. And then there's the thoughts of the creator of all of this...

for fun's sake

Someone once pulled me aside, having overheard a conversation between colleagues, and, being of a different generation, asked

"What's all this about 'comfort zones'? When I was young there were things you did want to do and things you didn't. You had to do the things you didn't want to do and you waited to do the things you did."

Thankfully I am blessed with a life where I actually have the option of making those choices but this comment makes me reconsider what choices I make and whether or not they are the right ones every time I'm confronted with a decision to make.

Climbing is something I very much do for the fun of it but it is riddled with these moments. The intense, short experience of leading a route can cause you to come away feeling like you've made a life-time's worth of (potentially) life or death decisions. People I know who aren't into this kind of thing often assume I love taking risks, pushing limits or chasing rushes of adrenaline when actually the truth is quite the opposite. For me the satisfaction I get from climbing, and other similar sports, is the feeling of having done something well, having been successful and being very much in control throughout.

And now the God bit - simply put, deciding to live faithfully is simultaneously the most exposed yet peaceful and satisfying choice I've ever made and will continue to make. I'd thoroughly recommend it.

still walking in faith

It does feel like things have been quiet for a long time now but I know that's looking at this walk from my perspective. One thing I do know is that, before my very eyes, a miracle is being shaped and nurtured. As my wife's tummy grows with our first baby so does my faith in the God that is 'knitting' it together.


Life is about to get a lot louder (or so I'm told) so it's probably a good thing that God is letting me enjoy this bit for what it is.

Testing testing

Ever got something new and just had to try everything?