God The Potter

An illustration by Omar & Bonnie Bravo that explores our relationship with God by interpreting the metaphor of “God the Potter” as it is found in the Bible.   Share What’s Good! [Video Presentation – Length: 21:33] Transcript: Metaphors, Illustrations, and Parables are used throughout the Bible in order to communicate complex ideas into meaningful, […]

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Relationships Are Everything

Fame.  Fortune.  Status.  Security.  They are all worthless. Unless, you have someone to share them with. In college, I remember one of the Jesuits (Mario Prieto) telling a story during the 10pm Student Mass about how he and his 10 older siblings used to fight over the food at their dinner table.  To combat their […]

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My 5 Greatest Failures

I’ve failed far more times than I’ve succeeded in my life, but I consider these to be my greatest hits (in chronological order)… Education, 1998 From the time I was eight years old and my older brother got accepted to Stanford University, I knew I was going to go to Stanford too.  Then, when I […]

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Let Go

A lecture on Letting Go of that which is unproductive in our lives in order to focus on that which matters most…   Let Go… Our Past  (Who We Were) Our Ideal Future  (Who We Were Supposed To Be) Our Hurts  (What Doesn’t Kill You) Our Wins  (Your Last At Bat) The Excuses  (A Lot […]

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106 Things I’m Thankful For

Some might call me an optimist, but I feel that my perspective is simply accurate –  Could things be better?  Sure.  Could things be worse?  Most definitely.  So, when I take an accurate inventory of my environment and current life situations, I always start by giving thanks for the blessings I’ve received and the people […]

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Christian Rhetoric

Towards the end of a recent Sunday Church Service, our Pastor gave an impassioned speech for the entire congregation to “be bold in their faith and stand up for what they believe.”  As he was reaching the crescendo of this call to arms, a number of manly sounding “yeahs” and “amens” could be heard responding.  […]

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Die Broke

In about 1999, I read a book by Steven Pollan called “Die Broke” and his four tenants about financial management have completely shaped my view and relationship with money ever since.  Since we are all getting older and have parents who are also getting older, the topics of retirement, inheritance, and savings (or lack there […]

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About Journey Notes

Life is a Journey… These are my notes. One step at a time, we all travel through an endless array of obstacles that make up our lives. At times, we are called to climb mountains. At other times, we are required to roll down the hillsides. Some days take us for a stroll along the […]

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Big Brothers Big Sisters

About 18 months ago, a friend mentioned to me that he had been thinking about becoming a “Big Brother”…  As I had always had wonderful mentors in my own life and have served as a mentor to others many times before, I thought that I could encourage my friend by signing up with him.  Talk […]

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The Original Super Hero

While speaking to a group of high school students on a mission trip in Costa Rica, I posed this question to the group:  “According to American Society, what defines a REAL MAN?” Immediately, hands shot up and the students (both guys and girls) started shouting answers like “a nice car”, “a big house”, “a boat”, […]

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Jesus Loves Gay People

One of the most controversial issues in American Society today is the the issue of Gay Marriage.  Generally, the media characterizes the debate as Republican vs. Democrat, Conservative vs. Liberal, and Christian vs. Non-Christian. Unfortunately, like most all generalizations, the lines are just not that clear cut… As a “follower of Jesus Christ”, I tend […]

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Mission 50/50

Mission 50/50 is a lifelong faith journey and life ministry to love our neighbors AS ourselves. Several years ago, while contemplating the idea of leaving my successful corporate career to pursuit a life of service in the mission field / non-profit business sector, I found myself running into the same circular argument over and over […]

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Attitude & Perspective

Positive or Negative, your attitude is 100% contagious.  Just think about it:  Have you ever been around someone who had a really negative attitude?  And didn’t that person seem to just bring a bad vibe into every social circle they entered into?  Likewise, have you ever been around someone with a positive attitude?  Not an […]

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Day 111 – Gun Shots & Hot Dogs

First thing today, the team split up:  Half of us went to deliver food (rice, beans, salt, sugar, spaghetti, etc) to a family in Jasmine the rest of us went to deliver food to two families in Juan Pablo.  After that, we headed down to Aurora to visit Jose Antonio (the little boy with mental […]

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Resignation Letter

Dear Friends, After five spectacular years at Texas Instruments, I have decided to resign my post as the Florida DBM in order to pursue full-time employment opportunities in the non-profit business sector, completely outside of the semiconductor industry.  What that means exactly, I’m not quite sure yet…  The first order of business will be to […]

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