John Gunter

Thoughts on Life and Living

The futility of autonomy vs. the blessing of community. . .

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John Gunter and Rankin Wilbourne hiking
This is Rankin, Morgen, and I hiking on a famous wall when they visited February (Morgen was the camerawoman)

This morning before running out of my apartment for my day of work/study/life in Asia, a dear friend and brother in the faith called me just to check in.  Rankin Wilbourne is the pastor of a wonderful church in Los Angeles.  The church is growing fast and so is his family (two kids and one more on the way).

Rankin (and his wonderful wife Morgen) looks out for me.  He cares for and prays for me.  I do the same for him (and his wonderful wife Morgen. . . and children).  Rankin and Morgen would drop what they are doing in an instant were I to need them, big or small.  For now, he simply calls regularly on the way home from work just to let me know that he is praying for me.  This is big and greatly appreciated.

I am blessed beyond measure by being in community.  I have friends and family around the world who are constantly looking out for me, as I am them.  Whether [Read more…]

Blessings from abroad. . . both trivial and significant

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McDonald's China and the guys

Top: the beautiful sight of the Golden Arches coming to life. Bottom: Michael, Scott, Noah, and I at a local restaurant.

Beth Gregory was the first to notice.  Michael Gregory was  first to confirm it.  Then it happened.  With the speed of Usain Bolt, word spread around our area of of this city that the famed Golden Arches of McDonald’s are making their way to town.  Since that magical moment, the American guys of this area have checked in at the construction site and reported back to everyone else daily.

McDonald’s will open up around 200 yards from my apartment complex by the end of this month.  I know this sounds crazy to be excited about this, and it is.  The food here is terrific.  I am fortunate to live in a region with some of the most creative, flavorful, and delicious food on the planet.  However, sometimes you just want some that tastes like you remember it as a kid.  McDonald’s is such a taste. I’m sure we will all be sick of it within the first few weeks of opening, but for now, I feel like I am five again waiting for the Christmas where I will get my first bike. McDonald’s is a blessing from abroad.

Now from the trivial to the significant. . . [Read more…]

“this is it”. . . 3 pictures of contentment from my life

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This is the third post in a series on contentment I am doing.  If you would like to see the first two, please read Glory in the Grind . . . and Contentment. . . my on-going struggle.Jeremy Noonan, Julian Krevere, John Gunter, Phil Autry, and Troy Coons during a accountability weekend.

Jeremy Noonan, Julian Krevere, John Gunter, Phil Autry, and Troy Coons this summer (we are as close as ever). . .

A little while ago, a good friend of mine asked me, “when have you ever felt ‘this is it’”?  This was just another way of asking, when in life have you been completely content.  The more I thought about this question, three images or pictures kept coming to mind.  All three pictures are representative of larger themes of contentment in my life.

The first picture. . . an image of me playing centerfield in summer baseball comes to mind.  I remember so clearly standing out in the worn out patch of grass in centerfield, breathing in the air, enjoying the camaraderie of my teammates, no school to worry about, just the joy of baseball and friends.  There was zero pressure of failure, as summer ball was largely just for fun and practice.  There were almost no fans.  I don’t even remember my parents being there, which was highly unusual.  Just teammates, coaches, the sun, competition (hard fought, yet winning and losing was not utmost in our minds), and joy.

I wasn’t worried about the future.  I wasn’t weighed down past mistakes.  I just played, laughed, enjoyed, worked, sweat, bled, and loved every minute of it.  When I would leave the field, things would get more confusing.  Teammates sometimes became conduits of sin.  Coaches became avenues of stress.  Even talents became expectations, which would funnel into the fears of unrealized dreams and failure.  However, [Read more…]

I am thankful for FRIENDSHIP. . . (Processing my birthday)

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John Gunter, with Yuh Tseng and Eugene Kim
Yuh, Eugene, and I in Hong Kong celebrating my 40th birthday together (never got a pick with Sam in it)

Today, I am thankful for friendship in general, and for my friends specifically.

I am currently on a plane leaving meetings in Bangkok heading back to my home. The meetings went well and the short trip was worth the time and energy to get there. One strange thing, I guess, is that yesterday was my birthday. I went the entire day and none of the 20 or so people at the meeting knew it was my birthday. Actually, the only person to wish me a “happy birthday” was the Thai lady that cleaned my hotel room. Didn’t really know how to respond to that one, so I uttered some clumsy words of thanks back (though aware that she couldn’t understand me), while I’m sure my quizical expression was painful for her to see.

Being alone in a country where no one knows me (and I don’t even know the language) has brought me to a point of extreme gratitude for one thing in particular. . . friendship. The Lord has blessed me immensely for my entire life with wonderful friendships.

John Gunter and Sam Shin
When Sam & Young Mee Shin visited a few years ago. . .

I am still close with a few friends from both elementary and high school, which is exceedingly rare these days. Above that, there are even more friends from that time period where I know beyond the shadow of a doubt that if I were back in the States we could pick things up exactly where we left off years ago. Old friends
, such as Ashton Cheatham and the James’ (Kirkland and Cummings), I miss and look forward to the day when time and space will allow an opportunity to reunite. Many have wished me well over Facebook these past two days and I have enjoyed each one. Makes me feel like I’m still roaming the halls of Henderson High School!

I am still close with several guys from college. This is actually an understatement. Four of these men form a life-time accountability/coaching/encouragement group with whom we have consistently met for eight years now (I will talk about this in a future post). Three other college friends, Sam Shin, Yuh Tseng, and Eugene Kim (Sam and Yuh are college and HS friends), flew all the way from America to Hong Kong last year to spend my 40th birthday with me. They were on flights for almost 40 combined hours to celebate this monumental birthday with me for a mere 35 hours on the ground. All of these relationships are as strong as ever, inspite of the miles between us. I am confident they will remain tight for the remainder of our days on earth. [Read more…]

Cherishing life through three realities from this summer

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John Gunter and family on the Alaskan cruise
Here is the entire Gunter clan on our Alaskan cruise.

This summer was a massive time of travel for me. 4 different countries, 13 different cities, and 15 different beds within a 5 week window.  It was a good and profitable time, but physically demanding. Throw in the fact that my time in the States (outside of our Alaskan cruise as a family) was FILLED with work meetings and the result is me still stuck in recovery mode here in Asia.

The time, though, was a blessing on many fronts. The work went very well, but more so, it was a wonderful time of being with my family and a few close friends. In addition to the Alaskan cruise that all 15 of us undertook (click here for the post I wrote during the cruise), we had other times of fellowship and celebration as a family of Mom and Dad’s 50th wedding anniversary.

As I sit here in this steamy coffeehouse in Asia reflecting over this time, though, three realities come to mind most about the summer that draws me to want to live a life of greater purpose, joy, and intentionality.

  1. Whales are awesome and Alaska is beautiful – I won’t go off on this much here since I have already written a post about it, but I did want to say this. . . whales are awesome.  On multiple occasions we had whales swim past our ship.  One day, we took a smaller boat on a whale watching excursion in Juneau.  Seeing mammals the size of school buses swimming in a pack of 9 within 20 yards of our boat was incredible.  I messed up in trying to take a picture and instead got 2 seconds of video footage (see the “video” below).  Probably won’t get me a Pulitzer Prize or anything, but I hope you enjoy this video captured on my iPad.  Not much here in the way of purpose and intentionality, but [Read more…]

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