Updates and Rants...

Things must be crazy for everyone. Several of my favorite bloggers have been on hiatus recently much like myself or sporadic at best. I hope everyone is doing ok!

Things are finally settling down in my life although I'm having a heck of a time getting everything back on track. Seriously missing the wife's involvement in day to day chores and childcare! Don't know what ya got till its gone as the song says...

Work has been hectic but the workload has leveled off and is in decline now. As long as I don't get overwhelemed its more than manageable which is good for the rest of my life. The three day weekend coming up doesn't hurt things either!!

With the wife being laid up I haven't been able to take advantage of overtime like I wanted but I want to be there for her so its all good. Hard not to think about how large that paycheck would be though! :)

My friends have been through some real ups and downs in their lives but the light has been coming into view at the end of the tunnel. God is in all things and his face is becoming clearer as we go. Keep the faith guys and everyone keep these people in your prayers. It works, trust me. The power of prayer cannot be underestimated. I'm not talking about the charlatans on tv slapping people on the forehead or waving their hands and people falling down.

That's not the power of prayer, that's the power of hypnotic suggestion. I'm talking about real fervent prayer with selfless motivation. That's where the power is. A collective hallucination is not where God is and we need to be aware of those false prophets and not fall into their games.

Got off on a rant there for second, sorry about that. But its my blog, take it or leave it. :)

Anyway, I feel better when I write out some things like this. This is therapeutic for me and informative for you so we all win!

Updates

My how things have gone insane in my life!

My wife breaks her foot, I'm starting school again, and the busy time of the year at work all happen at the same time and I start drowning!

So many apologies for the lack of updates. Hopefully things will calm down and I can gain some sense of order in my life.

On a side note, your prayers for my wife would be greatly appreciated. She's going in for foot surgery on Thursday morning...

My other project, 315 to Fit, is on hold at the moment as well now that I must go into "take care of teh family" mode right now with three little ones and I broken wife. More to come on that one!

Expect some more meaty topics as I move more into my school year. These deep theology classes always get the juices flowing!

Thanks for reading and keep watching for more!

The Wooden Bowl

A frail old man went to live with his son, daughter-in-law, and four-year-old grandson.
The old man's hands trembled, his eyesight was blurred, and his step faltered.

The family ate together at the table. But the elderly grandfather's shaky hands and
failing sight made eating difficult. Peas rolled off his spoon onto the floor.
When he grasped the glass, milk spilled on the tablecloth.

The son and daughter-in-law became irritated with the mess.
'We must do something about father,' said the son.
'I've had enough of his spilled milk, noisy eating, and food on the floor.'

So the husband and wife set a small table in the corner.
There, Grandfather ate alone while the rest of the family enjoyed dinner.
Since Grandfather had broken a dish or two, his food was served in a wooden bowl.

When the family glanced in Grandfather's direction, sometimes he had a tear in his eye as he sat alone.

Still, the only words the couple had for him were sharp admonitions when he dropped a fork or spilled food.

The four-year-old watched it all in silence.

One evening before supper, the father noticed his son playing with wood scraps on the floor.

He asked the child sweetly, “What are you making?” Just as sweetly, the boy responded,
“Oh, I am making a little bowl for you and Mama to eat your food in when I grow up.”

The four-year-old smiled and went back to work.

The words so struck the parents so that they were speechless. Then tears started to stream down their cheeks. Though no word was spoken, both knew what must be done.

That evening the husband took Grandfather's hand and gently led him back to the family table.

For the remainder of his days he ate every meal with the family. And for some reason,
neither husband nor wife seemed to care any longer when a fork was dropped, milk spilled, or the tablecloth soiled.

On a positive note, I've learned that, no matter what happens, how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow.

I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles four things:
a rainy day, the elderly, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights.

I've learned that making a 'living' is not the same thing as making a 'life..'

I've learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance.

I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands, you nee d to be able to throw something back sometimes.

I've learned that if you pursue happiness, it will elude you
But, if you focus on your family, your friends, the needs of others,
your work and doing the very best you can, happiness will find you

I've learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision.

I've learned that even when I have pains, I don't have to be one.

I've learned that every day, you should reach out and touch someone.

People love that human touch -- holding hands, a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back.

I've learned that I still have a lot to learn.

He Gave All

There's nothing in this world that tears me up inside more than watching my children suffer. I sit here in the dark and listen to my precious two year old struggle for that next breath and I can barely hold it together.

It's in these moments that my mind slips back to what it must've been like for the Father to watch His son suffer on that cross. I don't know how I could deal with that. It's too much to even consider in my present state of mind. I have enough trouble dealing with a bad cough with my childen let alone real torture.

You can say that he knew it was going to be ok in the end but I just don't buy it. I'm pretty sure my son will be ok in the morning but that is little consolation when your little boy is struggling for that next breath.

He asks so little of us for such a horrible sacrifice and yet we act like stopping to feed the homeless will ruin our perfect day. The next time your loved one is in pain ask yourself what you'd do to make it all better. I know given the choice I would give anything for healing for my kids and wife. Jesus gave that and more...

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPod touch]

Pass It On!

I love the connections we can make on the Internet. That can be through blogs, web pages, social networking such as Facebook, Twitter, etc... We can have a huge impact on the world simply by finding a good twitter account to follow and "retweeting" what we see!

There are so many avenues to share the good news of Jesus that we aren't even scratching the surface! When I think about all the times I've wasted by not sharing the gospel I'm ashamed. I don't want to waste another minute thinking about the "lost" and the "unchurched". I want to "find" them and "church" them! Less talk, more do! And if this little blog can help me do that then so be it! If not, I'll drop it like a rock!

So here goes...I'm challenging everyone who reads this to sign up for twitter. I'll throw out some suggested twitter contributors to follow in the right-hand navigation of the blog in the days to come. If you'd like a tutorial on twitter, leave a comment and I'll help however I can. Sometimes the sheer volume of information that comes out over Twitter can be overwhelming and someone might be inclined to give up. There are plenty of programs, and one really good one, to sort out this mass of information! Just Google "Tweetdeck" and you'll understand. Download it, use it, love it!

You don't have to have an original thought in your head to use Twitter. All you need to do is learn the power of multiplication. If you find something that you think is worth sharing and you retweet that information, you've just opened that up for the people that follow you to see it. Then what if someone retweets what you sent, now all their friends can see it! And on and on and on and on... You get it? This is spreading the good news at its finest and certainly at its fastest!

Nothing will ever take the place of a good one-on-one conversation about Christ. There is something about face to face communication that changes the whole dynamic. But lets not get so focused on that traditional forms of communication that we lose sight of the here and now! Like it or not this is the way people are communicating these days and we have a responsibility to bring the gospel into that stream of communication just like any other!

So in closing...Pass It On!