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Hosting Lasse from Denmark

At the beginning of the year, we agreed to be one of three families to host an exchange student from Denmark for the year. Our portion of the year was in the Spring—when he was actively engaged in the Track season.

From the pictures below, you can see his Rotary Youth Exchange coat and (at bottom right) a photo op with the host families at a Rotary event.

We took him to play Disc Golf with us a few times, and he went on some bike rides (using Jennifer’s bicycle). And, we had to see an Astros’ game, where he was blessed to see a Breggy Bomb!

Lasse also joined us for some family experiences, including a tour of Space Center Houston and Sundays at church. As he closed out his time with us, Lasse helped prepare a traditional Danish meal for all of the host families (bottom right). And we sent him off with a supper at Copenhagen restaurant in Katy (top right).

Brady’s Early Retirement from NASA

In February, it was time to move on from NASA—after nearly 28 years (including 30 years of Federal service!).

Below, you can see when I joined the NASA team at Mamacita’s for a local dinner. Then, I had a fun retirement party—joined by family and friends alike. It was a great celebration of a fun career!

My Headquarters HR team had this caricature made for me, which captured what they saw from me – my faith, love for Darth Vader & the Astros, and promoting a sense of fun with my infamous “ribbon dancing.” My theme for our team was borrowed from Tanner’s Little League Super Bowl-winning football team (when he was 10 years old): “One Team, One Dream,” and I was always a big user of hash tags on our various Microsoft Teams gatherings –

Kids On Their Own…

This year, each of our kids had unique experiences on their own –

Katy’s Student Teaching

Katy sent along these pictures of her student teaching experience.

Then, we were able to celebrate with her at her graduation ceremony at Dallas Baptist University. What a fun day!

Cody Becomes an Aggie

Cody was accepted into Texas A&M’s main campus as a Hotel & Hospitality Management major! He quickly became involved in intramurals and found time for Trevi too.

In the Summer, he worked at our church (pictured above power washing one of the church vans). And…I needed to include his photo with Tanner by a mural in Los Angeles, depicting his favorite player, Kobe Bryant & daughter, Gigi.

Tanner’s Summer

Tanner went to Corpus Christi with his friend, Reid; and they were able to take in a Corpus Christi Hooks’ game with Pappy & Grammy. Tanner also earned a spot in the National Honors Society—thanks in no small part to his supportive Mom (bottom left). Together, they took a trip to Hardin-Simmons University for a basketball camp. Tanner also went to camps at the University of Houston (top right) and Dallas Baptist University (bottom right).

In addition to camps, Tanner played summer basketball for Holbrook Hoops (pictured top left below). Last month, we traveled to the valley for a tournament at La Joya High School, where his team helped Coach Penders achieve his 500^th career coaching win and finished 2^nd in the tournament of 32 teams. It was also fun seeing Tanner play at Clear Brook High School (bottom right), where Cody’s name hangs on their 2020-2021 team banner, marking their 22-3 season.

They Also Spent Time with Us…

Family Fun @ the Final Four!

We gave the boys tickets to the Final Four in Houston at NRG Stadium, so it was fun and exciting seeing the games in person.

Time with Gram

In June, Jennifer and Katy took a girls’ trip to see the Texas play in Palo Duro Canyon. That was a first for Gram!

Labor Day weekend, we made a family trip to celebrate Gram’s 87^th birthday with her in Lamesa.

Family Vacation in Cali

For our summer family vacation, the boys wanted to go to California. They specifically wanted to see Los Angeles and San Diego. We arranged the schedule to also see the Los Angeles Dodgers stadium. Prior to the trip, I was watching the schedule and noticed that Shohei Ohtani would be scheduled to pitch while we were there. However, that meant adjusting the schedule to see the Dodgers the night of our arrival. We chose to do that, and Cody said he’d like to see a Mookie Betts home run…and Betts delivered!

For the Angels game, Shohei was only able to pitch 5 innings before encountering finger discomfort. The game was tight, and then Shohei belted his 40^th home run over the right field fence. We left the game with the Angels in the lead, but the Mariners came back to beat them. That was the beginning of the ending of the Angels playoff chances, as they went on a big losing streak. Meanwhile, the Mariners made a strong push to get into the playoffs…

We also rode a tour bus to see the homes of Hollywood and, of course, took a picture with the iconic Hollywood sign (hard to see in the lower left picture). Jennifer also needed a photo with John Wayne’s star on the Hollywood walk of stars…

Jennifer and I woke up earlier than the boys each day and took our morning walks…with a little different scenery in California! We also hit the Santa Monica Pier, Paramount Studios, the San Diego Zoo, and the Hard Rock Café!

We also made time to go to Catalina island, where we had tickets for a Parasailing adventure. That’s something I may not have done, but I needed to in order to encourage Cody to go. He had a blast. I was glad to have my feet back in the boat!

We also took a snorkeling tour in La Joya caves, which was a lot of fun. As we were kayaking to the caves, sea lions swam just behind us. That was a unique experience!

Halloween Fun

Halloween was fun for both Jennifer and me this year. She and her co-teacher decided to go along with the “Barbie” craze and were P.E. Barbies.

Of course, I had to bring Darth Vader to Space Center Houston. Our Chief Operating Officer, Mary Shafer, has her own jedi costume & customized light saber!

Brady’s Birthday

On my birthday, we hosted a Benefits Fair at Space Center Houston. I loved the philosophy of the chocolate box below!

Enjoyed celebrating with the family…and for Thanksgiving, all of us went to play Pickleball and grab a Christmas card photo (bottom right).

Thanksgiving – Galaxy Lights at Space Center Houston

It was fun to host Evan, Katy, and Penelope for Thanksgiving this year. We all went to Galaxy Lights at Space center Houston (including Evan’s parents and my parents in the picture at the bottom right below).

Alison’s Wedding

Jennifer and I returned to San Diego for Alison Vicary’s November wedding in San Diego and met Katy & Evan there. It was a fun celebration, and we were able to take in a few of the sights that we had scouted out on our summer vacation as well.

One Word for 2023 Reflections

Katy – Confidence

It’s stated, “Be careful what you wish for,” because oftentimes we will be tested in it…and that is true for 2023 and my word for the year, confident. I chose “confident” as my word for 2023 because I knew there’d be many opportunities to practice it (and need it!), specifically with starting my first job after graduation from college!

For the majority of my life, I knew I wanted to be a kindergarten or first grade teacher. With God and His “sense of humor,” I just finished teaching my first semester of fifth grade—the grade I always said I’d never teach; the grade that scared me the most!

When I realized I’d be teaching fifth grade, I knew I needed confidence to step into this position God clearly had for me. This confidence begins with being confident in who God is and trusting Him. I learned in various ways what it looks like to depend on Him and His character through nervousness and anxiety often surrounding this fifth grade position. Then, knowing I trust who He is, I needed to be confident that His plan was better than mine and He would use me for His glory through my job!

Looking back, I can say—with confidence—that my job is hard, but also that God is working. There have been multiple people on staff at my school that have commented on how confident I am. This has often shocked me because that is not how I would describe myself at times, but it’s evidence that God is working in me and that leaning into Him brings out confidence in me! I’ve had my share of difficulties throughout this year, but learning what it looks like to be confident in God and His plan has been rewarding!

Evan – Discipline

Looking back on 2023, I would not say that it was a year of disciplined exercise. However, I did exercise discipline in a few key areas.

First, I set out to read one book per month. This began as a challenge to avoid the inevitable on and off reading that I had been doing for the past few years. Discipline was required to not only choose 12 books to read, but also to find time throughout the busy work weeks to progress in my reading so that I would be ready for another book in the next month. This challenge was met and accomplished as I am finishing up book #14 as the year comes to an end. This has encouraged me to push on for a new goal of 15 books in 2024.

Throughout the process of finding time for reading, I found that I enjoyed reading during my lunch break in my truck at work. This allowed me to practice discipline in being on my phone less as well. I spent my lunch breaks reading instead of screen time, which allowed me to be more present and intentional throughout the day. In the evenings, cooking as well as getting a family dog in May of 2023 has forced me to be present with my wife and attentive to what is happening in our apartment in the evenings instead of being on our phones.

Lastly, 2023 brought new opportunities financially, including Katy starting her full-time work as the world’s best 5th grade teacher, as well as a new job opportunity for me with new benefits and better overall compensation that I haven’t had with my current employer. These shifts have allowed Katy and me to practice discipline, and execute a plan for reaching our financial goals of buying a house and saving for retirement.

This year has been filled with many excitements as well as many challenges. However, exercising discipline throughout has brought me closer to my wife, closer to God, as well as closer to the gym— but only as I walk by on my very disciplined walks with our puppy, Penelope.

My One Word: Surrender

Last year, I shared the story that until the 1960s, Americans talked about surrender as giving up control and turning over all to our Master Jesus Christ. In my lifetime, Americans have pivoted to the word “commitment”, which is something we do and maintain control.

At the beginning of 2023, I needed to surrender all to Him, who holds the keys to my future. While it was clear I needed to move on from my role in NASA’s Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer, it was very unclear as to what was next.

As 2023 played forward, I was selected to be Space Center Houston’s first Vice President of Human Resources. What a perfect place to be—still connected to NASA through the official visitor center of the Johnson Space Center in Houston!

Unhurried Living 2023

In early-February, I seized an opportunity to join a 3-month online coaching group with Alan Fadling, based on his award-winning book An Unhurried Leader that I read and summarized in 2019 here.

Fortunately, Fadling—a trained spiritual director—agreed to convene the group, even though only Pastor Theo Myer and I were the only attendees.

It was a rich 3-man conversation every other week over 3 months, as we learned to do better work with less hurry. Specifically, we:

Assessed how hurry drives our lives & leadership.
Evaluated the hidden (and often obvious) costs of hurry.
Envisioned the “better life” available to us following the unhurried way of Jesus.
Discussed practices that help cultivate holy habits of unhurry.
Enjoyed the gift of like-minded leaders who encouraged us in the journey.

For more about these coaching groups, check out this link.

I found this to be great timing for me personally, as I work to develop new systems and habits professionally. I moved from a role that averaged roughly 150 e-mails and 7 hours of meetings per work day to a role that sees less than 50 e-mails and 4 hours of meetings per work day. There is space and time to think and plan, and my new role has opportunities to invest in the workforce, which represents a new freedom—one I haven’t experienced professionally in the last 5 years!

In his book, Fadling offers that “hurried” leaders are:

Quick to do & slow to be
Quick to speak & slow to listen
Quick to teach & slow to learn

Slowing down, he argues, is crucial to spiritual health and productive leadership. Consider Alabama’s song “I’m in a hurry (and don’t know why)” the anti-anthem for unhurried leadership.

In my initial conversation with Alan on February 14, he pointed out, “This is a new moment for you—an opportunity to press reset or reboot and establish new patterns.” He further encouraged me, “As you step into your new job, consider how you can care for this unique group of people. Know and understand them; and earn their trust.”

God-given visions will become real for us, if we have patience. We assume the very next step is to take action, but God wants to make the vision real in our lives first. For me, I’m often self-centered in approaching God with questions like, “What do you want me to do in my family, job, and circumstance?” Instead, I recognize that I need to focus on God, His attributes and characteristics and be filled—then live from overflow.

As we seek God and His Kingdom first, we will find what we need to lead well.

Dallas Willard noted that there’s a difference between busy and hurry. When we’re busy, our calendar is full. When we’re hurried, our soul is not at rest. Consider the impact of your decisions and actions with the following question, “Twenty years from now, how did I impact people?”

Dr. Oswald Sanders was once asked, “What is the secret of Spiritual Leadership?” His answer was simply “God.” When will we learn that God is the answer for everything?

As leaders, we want to plan events, produce programs, and build structures, but what has eternal impact? It’s what we do to help other people. Alan noted in the past, his focus was on making things better rather than serving people better.

We talked about praying our work. Practically speaking, look at the next day’s schedule, and pray for the people we’re meeting with. Use Evelyn Underhill’s prayer, “Let us ask God to show us the things He desires us to do.” This focus will help you relate to people differently—especially as you face conflict. Praying for others gives us greater interest and compassion for others.

Pastor Theo noted that praying the work is a great habit. He went on to say that at night, he uses the prayer of examen to review the day and spot where God was present and where he was at work.

We discussed different life rhythms:

Daily: “Good morning, God”; During the day, 30 minutes of spiritual time; and “Good night, God” – What did I do today that pleased God? Where do I need forgiveness?
Weekly: Sabbath – Not measured by productivity (no regular work)
One-Week Retreats of Prayer, Fasting, and Extended time in God’s presence for clarity & direction

Leadership prayer is staying awake to God’s presence. It is:

More relational than transactional.
More person-focused than program-focused (not praying for a meeting, service, program, or initiative).
More God-focused than me-focused.

How do prayer (our relationship with God) and leadership (doing God’s work) relate?

Pray or Lead. Consider driven extroverts, who don’t have time to “do nothing” in prayer.
Pray then Lead. Start with prayer, but it’s distinct from leading.
Pray and Lead. Lead prayerfully with an eye for initiative and engagement.

Prayer is living in vital friendship with God. Leadership is working in vital friendship with God. Whatever work is on our schedule today, we don’t do it for Jesus…but with Jesus.

Thomas Green once said, “One goes to the chapel to be filled with God then to the marketplace to share with others the God he encountered.”

As Ruth Haley Barton put it in her book Sacred Rhythms, “Many of us try to shove spiritual transformation into the nooks and crannies of an unmanageable life.” Our rule of life questions should be:

Who do I want to be?
How do I want to live?

May you become an Unhurried Leader, as you shoot for the stars!

Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster

Throughout the year, I explored the 12 Spiritual Disciplines described by Richard Foster in his classic book Celebration of Discipline.

January – Inward Discipline #1: Meditation
February – Inward Discipline #2: Prayer
March – Inward Discipline #3: Fasting
April – Inward Discipline #4: Study
May – Outward Discipline #1: Simplicity
June – Outward Discipline #2: Solitude
July – Outward Discipline #3: Submission
August – Outward Discipline #4: Service
September – Corporate Discipline #1: Confession
October – Corporate Discipline #2: Worship
November – Corporate Discipline #3: Guidance
December – Corporate Discipline #4: Celebration

My prayer is that this review of the Spiritual Disciplines strengthened your own faith in 2023, as you continued to shoot for the stars!