In honor of Mother’s Day, check out this hilarious video on the difference in how men and women deal with sickness…

This weekend is Mother’s Day. I want to give a shout out to my mother. My 4′11″ 100-pound mother may have kept me from gaining the height necessary to advance my basketball career beyond what it was, but in the process, she loved and invested in three sons and demonstrated the love of Jesus to them. My dad traveled a good bit while I was growing up and my mother was left with the monumental task of raising 3 sons. I am sure there were times she wanted to give up - particularly when we turned 8 years old and she could no longer “hurt” us with the paddle but she was always faithful. On this Mother’s Day weekend, I want to express my love and gratitude for my mother - Sandy Hudson. She is one of a kind and we love her.

I know I recently posted on Survivor and I don’t want to appear obsessed with the show but I watched in shock last night as the only male remaining fell prey to the seductive words of four females. It was unbelievable. They have already duped two guys ahead of him. He watched just a couple of days earlier as Amanda pulled the wool over the eyes of the entire tribe. Why for one second would he trust them?

If you do not watch Survivor basically there is only one guaranteed way to advance to the next round - the immunity necklace. Win the immunity and you have ZERO chance of being “voted off.” Did I mention you have absolutely, 100% ZERO chance of being voted off? Erick, the last male in the game, wins immunity. He is 100% guaranteed a spot in the final four. So what does he do? He allows himself to be talked into giving away the necklace and he is subsequently voted off. It is definitely the dumbest move in Survivor history. I could not believe my eyes as I watched it unfold.

It was liking watching the book of Proverbs played out live on national TV. Erick was seduced and faced the consequences. How do you give up the only thing that guarantees you are advancing - especially when the other players have done everything to prove that they cannot be trusted???

One of the females said it right - you do not always have to use your physical prowess to move forward. The tongue can be an even more powerful force at times. Unbelievable. Definitely the year of the blindside on Survivor.

Here is UNC star Tyler Hansbrough being stupid or maybe just being a college student? Jumping out of a second story window into a shallow pool may not be the best move for your future in the NBA but you can’t keep college students from being college students.

Highlights of the weekend…

- Played golf on Friday. Tough course. Shot decent.

- Kids went over to “Uncle Derek’s house” on Friday night and watched a movie on the back of his house - he projects movies on a giant sheet on the back of the house. Great outdoor theater.

- Zac is in a slump in baseball. Since he got hit in the head a few weeks ago, he is afraid of the ball. It is affecting every part of his game. Hopefully it is only temporary.

- Took the kids swimming over Kenny T’s house on Saturday afternoon. Pool days are here.

- T cooked more meat on the grill than anyone I have ever seen.

- Took the fam to see Iron Man Saturday evening. Great film. Everyone loved it. Had a few parts where I had to cover Zac’s eyes but overall it was a good film. Loved the final scene with Samuel L.

- Waiting for the final scene after the credits, I realized it takes a TON of people to put together a movie. Reminded me of the necessity of each person in the life of the local church. Most people are behind-the-scenes but in reality every person is valuable to the team and the overall picture.

- Began our new series Q & A on Sunday. I answered questions on Creation-Evolution, studying your Bible, the jealousy of God, Christians and politics, and whether I cuss at home! Good start. People seem to really be excited about this series.

- Finished my talk on Jacob Sunday night at Five20. I love his story. Next week we are bringing in a Sublime tribute band to Five20. Should be an interesting night with an extremely diverse audience.

- Exciting days ahead at GP as we plan to transition locations!

- Reminder: Next Sunday is Mother’s Day!

The month of May always kicks off the summer movie push with some great flicks. Here are three I really want to see this month.

I had a bit of a rude awakening with my oldest daughter this weekend. She got extremely upset with her mother because she “stopped recording” one of her favorite shows on the DVR. The discussion escalated to the point she had to be punished over her attitude and loss of control. Admittedly, I am a bit of a reactionary parent, so my immediate response was to let her know how fortunate and privileged she was to even have a DVR while most of the kids of the world do not even own a TV and for sure do not have a TiVo device. I passionately described (which basically means I screamed it) how many kids in our own city don’t even have food to eat and how selfish it is to worry about the “stupid” DVR. I informed her that her mommy’s TV viewing would not be dictated by the 102 Hannah Montana recordings, the 97 H20 episodes, a PBS show about a cartoon dog named Ruff Ruffman, and the 64 other shows they record every minute of the day.

Can an adult watch normal TV in the house without it being interrupted by some kids show getting recording???

Thinking about this encounter later, I realized that my kids do not know anything other than the DVR culture in which we live. They know nothing of antennas that make the “whaa-whaa-whaa” noise as they circle trying to pick up a station. They know nothing of a pair of needle nose pliers serving as a remote control. They have no idea what it means to only pick up 2-3 channels. They know nothing of 13″ TVs and renting a VHS player for the weekend or the exciting game of Pong. Instead they are being raised in the HD satellite TV, 564 channels, cartoons 24-7, multiple remotes, DVR/TiVo, 65″ big screen, multiple video games, DVD/Blu-ray disc day and age. When I talk about how “rough” I had it as a child in the world of electronics, they can’t even identify with what I am talking about. And guess what? I had no clue what it meant when my parents talked about living without tv, electricity, and walking to school 9 miles uphill in both directions in the snow.

So what do we do? Well we can try and make them go back in time a couple of decades and experience life before the luxuries of DVR, or we can buy them every gadget known to humanity so they stay up to speed, or we maybe we can recognize the reality of the culture in which they are being raised - try and raise them in a way where they understand stewardship, generosity, and value - and help teach them what is truly important in life without allowing the pendulum to swing too far in either direction.

I want my kids to experience the convenience of DVR. But I don’t want them to grow up thinking conveniences are necessities. How do you strike a balance between these two worlds? I’m not sure. I know I fault one way or the other more often than I want. I know that I have only been a parent for 10 years and I am learning as I go. I know that I want my kids to grow up and love Jesus and love their parents and love each other and love the church and love living life. I know I want my kids to grow up and see beyond their own worlds. And I know that I want my 10-year-old daughter to be able to watch the latest Hannah Montana episode and yet realize the world does not revolve around Mylie Cyrus.

Parenting - could it be the best and yet most difficult experience of life? If not, it sure runs a close second.

After the weekend…

- You don’t realize how dependent you are on e-mail until your server is down for a few.

- Took my kids to the lamest school carnival in the history of school carnivals on Friday night.

- Kids got to go swimming after the carnival which is the only thing that salvaged the evening.

- Very glad all my kids love the water and can swim like fish.

- Had some hang time with the kids on Saturday. Baseball game with Zac. Went out to eat at Macaroni Grill and then went to ride go-karts. Fun evening.

- Watched my second horrible movie in a row. Movie 1 & Movie 2 … not worth the time. Big disappointment with both.

- We finished our Lifeboat series on Sunday. Definitely one of the best series we have ever done. The videos, messages, creative elements, etc. were some of our best. We will be packaging Lifeboat for those interested. We finished strong. The video was the best yet, the message connected to a lot of people, and several adults committed their life to Christ. Good day.

- Gotta love the Sunday afternoon nap!

- Teaching on one of my favorite biblical characters at Five20: Jacob.

- Looks like GP will be moving in July to a high school! Exciting days ahead.

- Being portable and changing locations brings new challenges.

- We have way too many questions on our askgp.com website for our next series. Should be fun deciding which ones to answer. It should be a very interesting series.

- Starting to warm up in the desert. 90s ahead.

- Hansbrough is staying at UNC for his senior year. Now if our “testing the waters” boys will just stay in college, we should be set for a legitimate run at the national championship.

- Do the Cowboys have to pick up every delinquent player in the NFL?

- Watching some NBA playoffs. There are some great series this year. Potential LA/Boston Finals again? Takes me back to when I first starting watching basketball - Bird, the Chief, McHale, DJ, Magic, Kareem, Cooper, Worthy, Scott, Rambus … great era of basketball.

That’s all folks.

I love having a son. My 6-year-old son Zachary is a trip.  He brings me laughter and frustration.  There are things about him that I love and things that drive me nuts at times.  He is passionate and determined (not always a good combination). He is a handsome little dude (notice I did not say cute) with a passion for life. Sometimes he is fearless and sometimes his fears make no sense to me as an adult.  I have to admit this trait in him drives me crazy at times.

For example, Zac will ride any roller coaster that height requirements will allow. He is relatively tall so he gets on most adult rides. He gets nervous but he usually overcomes his fear and has a blast.  Last night we took our kids to ride go-carts. Zac was hilarious. He drove by himself one of the smaller carts for the first time in his life. He had never driven a cart. He was fearless. He was cutting people off.  He lapped his more cautious sister twice - bumping into her once and getting a warning from the attendant.  He maintained this look of determination as he drove aggressively and fearlessly.  When he rode with me on the adult carts later, he kept screaming “go faster daddy. You’ve got to push the pedal harder!” To which I screamed back, “I’m pushing it as hard as I can - stop screaming!”   He was fearless.

At the same time, Zac spends a lot of his time around a mommy and 2 sisters - even our dog is a female.  For that reason, we have to work extra hard to get him involved in more “boy” activities.  He is playing his first year of coach-pitched baseball.  He is the youngest player on the team and admittedly one of our weaker players, which is understandable due to his age.  Yet one of the things that irks me is his fear of the baseball.  Now he did get hit in the head with the ball a few weeks ago which added to his concern but it drives me insane when he shies away from the ball.  For some reason, he has a fear of the ball. I don’t get it.  Roller coasters - fearless.  Baseballs - fearful.

I think the easiest explanation of Zac’s fear of the baseball is his experience. Twice now in his short baseball “career” he has been hit directly in the head with the ball. This has led him to be afraid of the ball.  He has been hurt by it and it makes him afraid.  He has yet to be thrown from a roller coaster - his fear has been superseded by the thrill of the ride.

Sometimes life experiences make us afraid. We get burned in a relationship and we are fearful of a new one. We take a risk and it fails and we are gun shy about new risks.  We allow ourselves to be vulnerable and it comes back to bite us and it makes us more afraid to open up again.  Life hits us in the head with the ball and it causes us to live or act in fear.

I never want fear to hinder me from taking life steps. I don’t want past life experiences to stand as an obstacle for what I am supposed to do and where I am supposed to go.  I don’t want getting hit in the head to keep me from playing short stop. I want to use fear as a motivator and not allow it to be a deterrent.  Life is too short to sit in the dugout afraid of the ball. Get in the game. Sometimes you are going to take one to the head. But don’t let fear keep you down. Get up - it’s time to play ball.

Lost was back with vengeance last night. Great episode. The dark cloud returns (apparently summoned by Ben somehow). Headed to Jacob’s house.  Conspiracies run rampant. Got to be the best show on television.