I never for one moment thought I would be taken out by a go-kart! But here I am, by Papa God's mercy, still fairly intact. During the long nights in the hospital when all I could do was silently cry out to Him for help, He was there! And how I thank Him for you! You prayed for me! I know some of you do not believe like I do and that is OK. Your thoughts and wishes for me were heard! I COULD FEEL THEM AT TIMES. Please continue for I have a way to go yet. I am thankful for every morning I have.

With the past weeks in mind, here is a message I received that I share with you …. this is from Ed Rush's newsletter Flight Brief. Ed is a decorated Marine Corps F/A-18 pilot. He was the #1 instructor in the Marine Corps for 1-against-1 dogfighting and was instrumental in the training development for the new F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter. He has flown close to 2,000 tactical aircraft hours, with over 50 missions in combat.

Most people review their failures like this:
1. Mentally go through the highlight reel at 2 am (especially the embarrassing parts)
2. Wince in the dark.
3. Feel guilty.
4. Try to forget it ever happened.
5. Re-roll the highlight reel the next night (or at least once a week)

That’s not a debrief. That’s just self-inflicted psychological waterboarding.
In the Marine Corps, every single flight ends the same way, no matter how it went. You land the jet, you walk into a room, and you debrief.

This isn’t done to punish yourself, beat your chest, or anything in between. Instead, it’s done to answer one question: What can we do better next time?

So instead of relying on ego or excuses, or saying, “yeah but here’s why it wasn’t my fault,” we bring cold, honest clarity about what happened, and what you’re going to do differently.

But you don’t need to be in the Marine Corps to practice honest debriefing. In fact, that same habit, done right, might be one of the most powerful spiritual disciplines you've ever learned. Because most believers handle mistakes in one of two ways:
1. They beat themselves up for the mistakes (often ones they made years ago).
2. They brush it off and pretend it didn’t happen.

Neither one is faith. That’s fear in two different directions.

But a real debrief is different. You sit down with God—not to confess and sprint away—but to review. You ask honest questions. You listen for honest answers. And then you move forward with better information in mind.

David did this.
Peter did this.
Every cool cat in the Bible did this.

And I believe that one 10-minute debrief with God—done consistently—will do more for your growth than years of guilt, vague intentions, and “I’ll do better next time” speeches. So tonight, before you fall asleep, try it.

Ask Him three questions:
1. What went well today?
2. What went wrong today?
3. What do I do differently tomorrow?
Then listen.
You might be surprised by what He says.

--
Ele era velho.
Ele era corajoso.
Ele era feio.