With all that said and after much debating with names, Michelle and I have decided on Jackson Curtis!!! Here is how we came up with his name.

When we first starting talking about names, Michelle said she wanted to have her dad’s name somewhere in his name to honor her dad. (Michelle is very close to her dad) At first I wasn’t a big fan of using the name Curtis, but after much conversations and debating Curtis finally grew on me. However we came to a rock and a hard place. We weren’t for sure if we wanted to use Curtis as the first or middle name. Once we decided to use it as his middle name we began looking at first names.

We went back and forth between James, Peyton, and a host of other names. Michelle was pretty set on James with the idea we would nickname him Jamie or JC…I liked it!!! However I didn’t love it, but if it’s what my wife wanted then I would live with it.

One cold afternoon I was listening to one of my favorite musicians and came upon one of his songs entitled “Jackson”. It hit me and that’s when I fell in love with the name Jackson Curtis!!! I approached Michelle with it and she too loved the name!!! The music artist was Dave Barnes and the song is on his CD Chasing Mississippi…take a listen! So after listening to Dave Barnes we finally arrived at the name Jackson Curtis…

With his name picked out and more than half way there, Jackson Curtis is set to enter the world June 7th.

How many of you in the first 4 days of the New Year have already experienced problems? Mine started New Year’s Eve….my furnance went out!!! Of all the times it could have gone out, it quit on the coldest week to come!!! To make a long story short, the furnance should be up and running sometime this morning!!! Yes it’s cold in my house and yes I’ve been wearing my winter jacket to watch tv, but if you look at the other side of the story…I still have a house to live in, clothes on my back and food in my belly and of course the TV didn’t get frozen with it being so cold in my house!!! LOL

Last night I was again flipping channels and came across TBN…they were showing a church service held at Yankee Stadium with a big praise band, the stadium was filled with thousands of people and they were rocking the house to say the least. Joel Osteen got up to speak and I was very close to changing the channel. I’m not a huge fan of Joel, but the first few words from his mouth caught my attention so I stayed tuned into TBN and listened to what Pastor Osteen had to say. And this is what he said.

“When we are faced with a problem if we will focus our attention on how BIG our God is, then our problems will seem small”

I have to say of all the times I’ve heard him speak that was one of the more wiser things he’s said and I can’t agree more with him. How many of you reading this can recall a problem and think of how big you made the problem seem only to leave God in the background? I know I’ve done it a lot, probably more than those reading this. Just imagine for a minute how awesome it would be if we would just grasp the idea of how BIG our God really is!!!

God’s word says that he tells lighting where to strike, He’s given names to all the stars in the universe and can call them out 1 by 1 by their given name! His word also says before you were formed in the whom God knew you and had a purpose and a plan written out for your life. That’s BIG!!! And just so you know the entire universe has yet to be discovered, NASA and other organizations have only touched the tip of the iceberg in trying to see how far our universe expands. They have yet to make a telescope big enough to reach to the outer levels of our universe, because it just keeps going!

I know some of you have encounter problems that some of us will never face or understand how severe the problem was, but let me assure you of something. No matter what problems you face and no matter how big they seem, our God, the God of the universe is always bigger and always has the solution to your problems…his answers may not be how you want the problem solved, but he knows what’s at best for you! Folks we serve a BIG God, who has BIG plans for your life!!!

So today when you walk out the door remember; our problems are small compared to the BIG God we serve. If we will focus on how BIG our God really is, He will show us that our problems can be solved in a BIG Godly way!!! Thanks for reading…have a great day!

How’s your year been? Good, Bad, Ok, Awesome, Tough, Crappy! With the new year upon us, what shall we do? There is always a “New Years Resolution” right? Sure, but do they really work, do we really apply ourselves when the new year is here? What’s so special about a new year that it causes us to think of quick and frantic ways to start the new year off. Did you know for the past few years I’ve told myself at the start of the new year I will loose weight and get in shape…I have yet to do it!!! Maybe it’s just me and everyone else has accomplished or at least stuck with their new years resolution? Who knows? How about this?

What if we skipped the new years resolutions? Just skip it…don’t pay any attention to it! Ring in the new year, party, hang out whatever you do best on New Years Eve, just skip the resolutions! Why not keep plugging along like you are now? Maybe some of you can’t do that and really do need a fresh start or need a new goal to go after. Whatever you need leave it out of a new years resolution and just go get it!!!

I love the quote from the “Rocky” movie he tells his son, he says “It’s not a matter how hard you can hit someone, it’s a matter of how hard you can get it and keep moving forward” So very true. No matter how hard you’ve been hit this year, keep moving forward!!! As difficult as that sounds or may seem I encourage you to keep going. Dig deep and find what you need to go more more day or one more round!!! I know it’s in there, you just have to find it!!!

So with 2010 here in our face…keep pushing and hang in there. As they say “Happy New Year”

One of the things he talked about was a series on Joy that he did with his church. He preached on it for several weeks and they did different projects and events to promote this “Joy” series. One of the events they created was “Bless Back Offerings” This is how it works…

One Sunday this church took up their normal offering and at the end of the service they handed out envelopes that had different amounts of money in them. The idea was to give 1 envelope per family and to take that money and bless somebody they knew needed something. Pretty crazy idea!!!! The pastor said despite giving away a week’s worth of tithing it was one of the most successful things they had ever done as a church. He said the testimonies that came back the following week were just amazing and in the process of blessing someone else they themselves were blessed just as much if not more because of spreading Joy around the neighborhood.

If you’re a pastor reading this, I’m sure giving away a week’s worth of offerings doesn’t sound like the logical thing to do and maybe your church is at a point where they can’t do that…and that’s ok.

After watching the interview the idea of “bless back offerings” stuck with me for whatever reason? Maybe God knew I needed to hear this pastor and the passion he has for spreading the gospel? I don’t know, but what I do know is that the idea stuck and it’s been on the front burner of my mind ever since watching that interview.

The other night I was talking with a friend and noticed they were wearing glasses. I made the comment “Since when do you wear glasses?” They replied since my contact supply ran out and I have no money to go see an eye doctor!” They went on to tell me that wearing glasses is a real struggle because they’re not the best glasses and their vision has changed since they’re last order of contacts.

While sitting there it dawned on me…(bless back offerings). So I did what I knew I was supposed to do.  I said lets get you some contacts!!! I made a quick phone call to a friend who’s in the eye business and my friend will be getting contacts here shortly. After all was said and done I didn’t feel proud or tall because I made something happen…I can’t really describe how I felt. If I had to put words on it I guess you could say I felt good that someone was getting the help they needed…regardless of who helped them.

Bless Back Offerings…it’s an idea anyone can do no matter what or how you help someone! It doesn’t have to be on a large scale..it might be just dropping by to say hello. Whatever you do and wherever you go remember Bless Back Offerings…it could change your life…it did mine!!!

Have a great Christmas and Happy Holidays!!!

Since my last blog a lot has happened!!! I will give you a list of what has happened then explain more in detail about each one.

1. Michelle is pregnant again!!!!!

2. Bow Season and Gun Season are in full swing and my freezer is full (more blogs to come on hunting!!!)

3. Traditional Thanksgiving Pheasant Hunting is very near!

4. Golf Season has come to a hault

#1. Back in June Michelle and I found out she was pregnant, however on our first ultrasound visit we found out that Michelle had miscarried the baby. Why this happened we don’t really know and neither do the experts…most miscarriages that happen in the 1st trimester are unexplainable. After some long nights and 4 boxes of tissues later Michelle surprised me one day with some good news, she was pregnant again!!!!

After much conversation we decided not to tell anyone til after we had our first ultrasound out of the way and knew that baby AuBuchon was doing good. Needless to say that first visit is out of the way and Michelle is about 12 or 13 weeks along!!! The baby as far as we can tell is doing good…it had a heart beat of 178 BPM (beats per minute) on our first visit…the dr. said that is a very good heart rate and shows good signs of a healthy baby…baby AuBuchon is expected to be here around June 7th!!!

#2. Apart from golf my other love is hunting. My favorite type of hunting bow hunting whitetail deer!!! It’s such a rush when you’re trying to kill such a smart animal with such a small weapon!!! I also love hunting period…this season alone has been my best season!!! Early October I was able to harvest my first deer with my bow and finally on the 31st of October the monkey fell off my back after I had shot my first big buck with a bow. He turned out to be a real dandy, good looking 8 pointer with 3 stickers on his brow tines!!! I was very happy my trophy!!! Gun Season opened on the 14th of November and my season was over just before 8AM…I had gunned down 2 deer about 10 minutes apart!!! It was a fantastic Saturday morning!!!

#3. With Thanksgiving at our doorstep Michelle and I will be traveling to Kansas for the traditional Pheasant Hunting trip her family takes every year!!! We weren’t able to go last Thanksgiving due to a death in the family, but we went in January and had great success, so I’m expecting nothing less than what happened in January!!! Should be a great trip with amazing amounts of food!!!

#4. With golf season slowing down to almost a hault take time to flip back to my blogs I wrote earlier this year about off season training and work!!! I’ll try and post more when time allows!!!

Have a great Holiday Season and we’ll get back to you here shortly!!!

As the season slows down I will get back into the habit of posting golf tid bits and this that and everything else….I guess this is it for now…until we read and write again, have a safe weekend. Like I always say “Hit her low and let her go or hit her high and let her fly” Good night!!!

Our mission is to #1 – Make learning and playing golf fun in a woman-friendly environment and #2 – Attract and retain new women golfers. So to help get more women interested in golf the Country Club I’m working for is now hosting an evening ladies league starting tonight. Our regular league is on Tuesday mornings, but not all of our ladie members are retired, so to promote women’s golf we’re adding an additional league that will start at 5:30!!!! I’m also offering some free lessons and clinics this month as well to any and all women 14 years of age and older.

Golf is a great game and ladies can have fun at it too, just like the men!!! So ladies if you’re wanting to get your feet wet this is the month to do it. If your club or facility is participating in Play Golf America this is your month. Consult with your local pro for more details or go to www.playgolfamerica.com Good luck this month and I hope to see you out there on the golf course!!! Have a great week!

This past Saturday I ran a benefit tournament for a little girl who has some brain complications. Her parents are working hard to raise money to get her some state of the art treatment that will hopefully fix about 70% of her injuries and will hopefully restore her back to a semi if not more regualr life style. With all the tournaments I run I get to know several of the teams that play out here on a regular basis. Not only do I know who they are, I also have a pretty good idea of how they play golf and what their handicap is. After meeting this little girl Jaylyn and her parents my heart went out for them and I dove in full blast trying to give them the most successful golf tournament they could have and raise as much money as possible. The good news is…the tournament was successful. However we had a small problem with a specific team.

I knew going into the tournament that this team was known for pencil whipping (writting down false scores) everybody. To say the least…they cleaned house!!! After the tournament I approached the team and gave them a good traditional ass chewing about cheating. Of course they played dumb to it and said they were all really good golfers and can shoot even par anytime from any tee box!!! At this point in the conversation I was fuming and my personal feelings were trying to crawl out of me and come out my mouth!!! Thank goodness they didn’t. I was highly disappointed in this team knowing who they were.

My tip to you is this…don’t put on paper what you can’t handle or back up on the golf course!!! If you’re a 15 handicap, admit it and play to it. This is probably my biggest problem I have as a golf professional. Play to what you have the ability to play to!!! You’re only hurting yourself when you cheat.  Respect the game and your fellow competitors. Golf is a better game when everyone is honest. Have a good Memorial Day and thank you to everyone who has served in our Military to protect our sweet freedom!!! God Bless all of you!!!

Anyway that’s my latest news for now. I’ll have a Memorial Day Golf Tip tomorrow. Have a great night!!!

One of my biggest pet peeves is dirty clubs!!! To help you get the most out of your irons on every shot you’ve got to have clean grooves!!! I carry with me on every golf bag I have (4 to be exact) a groove brush that has soft and hard brissles and a towel for clubs and a towel for cleaning my golf balls. After every shot I hit I clean the club I used with a wad of spit or water if I have it and I scrub it very well til the grooves are clean!!!

Having clean grooves ensures that you will have proper impact when you hit the golf ball. One thing you may not know is that when you’re grooves are dirty you can’t get the proper spin you need to make good golf shots. Now some of you are wondering how do I put spin on the ball? To put spin on the ball you first start with clean grooves. Once your grooves are clean, then to put spin on the ball you have to hit down on the ball and allow the ball to move up the club face and make a full swing. This will produce spin…work with it on the driving range before you take it to the course. Back to clean grooves.

The other bright side to clean grooves and clubs is your clubs look new!!! Just about everytime I play I get probably 1-3 compliments on how new my clubs look!!! Taking care of your clubs and keeping your grooves clean also ensures the life of your clubs. Not only cleaning them on the course, but giving them a good bath occasionally is good too. I probably bathe my clubs in hot water and soap about 1 a week sometimes more depending on how much I play and how dirty they get. Letting them soak in hot water and suds will help get all the dirt out of the grooves. It’s like doing dishes!!! If you wash your clubs in the sink, do your wife a favor and do the dishes while you’re at it!!! It may give you an extra tee time if you rack up some brownie points. The bottom line is…KEEP YOUR CLUBS CLEAN!!!!

Clean grooves means good golf shots, good golf shots means more golf and more golf creates for more fun!!! Keep your grooves clean and tee it up every chance you good. Just a side thought for leaving…Remember politicans are like diapers, they need to be changed and often for the same reason. Good afternoon, good evening and Good Night!!!

-Daniel