By Steve

Not what I expected:

I don't usually go to bars, there's just not much that takes place at them that I enjoy. But on Friday Ali and I went with some friends to Altitude, a roof top bar downtown...I loved it! Besides the company, the DJ was playing good music, there were several projection TV's showing extreme sports and we watched from way above, the Padres win in extra innings.

I was excited about Saturday. We had plans to go watch the thunderboats in Mission Bay, then to the ASR tour at Belmont Park to see the skate vert competition and then back to a bar to watch the USC game. The boats were okay, we missed the skate competition and USC completely dominated (okay, I expected this last one).

After our (Ali and me) regular Sunday morning coffee and Bible time, I went to Balboa park to watch the Velodrome races. I had no expectations, but I was surprised that something so cool was so poorly attended. Even if you don't like bikes, you need to check this out some time. After the races we had a great afternoon with friends eating food and attending the Padres game. The Padres completed a sweep over the Giants, but the day ended with the Chargers losing badly.

So where does all this lead? You never know how things might go. As much as you look forward to something, it may not live up to the hype. Expectations, usually unmet expectations, have a lot of power over our emotions. And sometimes, something unexpected can change your life.

This morning while talking with my mom on the phone, she told me that a long time family friend had a massive heart attack over the weekend and the doctors are not sure if he, Paul, will live. This came out of nowhere to me. Paul is a good friend, and is one of those people in my life that I have always looked up to. Paul has been a big influencer and encourager to me. Paul is the ultimate example of servanthood. Things are uncertain for Paul, whether he will pull through or not, so here is my expectation.

I expect the readers of this blog to stop reading right now and pray, plead with God for the life and full recover for Paul.

Somethings make boats, skates and sports seem so insignificant...and we should expect the life of another to do that.