What a great day!

Casey called me the other day while I was at work. She told me that our dog had just run out the door and would not come back to her. We have been missing our dog for the last 4 days now. We called the local shelters and had heard nothing. Unfortunately, the dog didn't have a tag on her collar telling who she belonged to.

Fast forward till today. We'd given up on finding her. Casey called and asked me to go help a friend of hers with a bunch of kids she was babysitting. I was on the way over there when I spotted a dog that looked--just like mine! I stopped in the middle of the road and told the guy and he found my dog. He said he had her for the last 4 days! He quickly unhooked her and let me put her in my car. I am soooo happy to have her back.

I'm not quitting my blog updates

I've been super busy the last few days, and will be for the next couple weeks...updates may be spotty from now until then.

On a good note, we're continuing to see God support us financially for trusting in Him. Every day I'm seeing his hand provide for us, and time and again I'm blown away.

32nd chances

Sometimes people struggle with right and wrong. Maybe I should rephrase that--Everybody struggles with it. We all fall short of the grace of God. Sometimes we get 2nd, 3rd, 4th chances.

Someone I am close to has stuggled for a long time to find his way. He is going through a divorce, lost his license, and recently got fired from his job. He's really struggled with these things. Tonight I found out that he found a job right across the street from his new apartment. He may not be back on his feet yet, but it looks like God has given him another chance.

I know He won't give unlimited pardons, but He does give us another chance many times more than we deserve. That's just another way I see God showing me what He can do.

The easy way and the right way

Yeah, I took the easy way. I was supposed to be working on homework, but I was goofing around. I was asked how my homework was coming, and I said I was working on it. I wasn't in the mood to get into a discussion over my homework, so I said I had been working on it. Seems innocent enough...but it's not.

Not only have I been thinking about it a lot, but I know that it interferes with my relationship with God and my wife. It's also kind of strange that doing the right thing AFTER doing the wrong thing is more difficult than just saying "I'm NOT working on my homework, but I plan to in a few minutes," and I also have to deal with the repercussions.

I guess the good news is that:
A) it wasn't pertaining to something important
B) I did come clean

The bad news is that Satan can use that against me, to make me feel guilty and to try to get me to do it again. It also makes it harder for Casey to trust me.

That just goes to show that you can feel like you're doing really well, and that's just when you're the most vulnerable. God humble me and help me follow your will.

Laying down burdens

You'll have to forgive my blogging the last few days. I'm short on sleep and it doesn't look like that will improve for at least a few days, so these will be short and to the point.

It's really hard to give up the battle over money every day. I keep trying to pick that burden back up, and I know that I shouldn't do it. I guess the only thing I can do is keep giving it up, and keep praying.

Exhausted

My day went okay, I'm just really tired with school and work right now. I'm not sure how I'm going to put up with another 3-ish semsters. I guess this is one of those things where I'll only be able to do it by the grace of God.

I'm out for the night...maybe I'll have something of substance tomorrow. Tune in tomorrow. Same bat time, same bat channel.

Being fed (for April 12, 13)

I am so thankful for the church family that I have around me. I started this blog to keep track of how God has blessed/challenged me, and it has not only done that but become a source of encouragement for me in my walk.

I put a hit counter on my blog to see how many people view my page...there certainly aren't many of you, but there are more than I expected. I can't begin to explain how much more fulfilling it is for me to write my blog when I get feedback. Pastor Kris and several of you others are really helping me.

I want to praise God for giving me a church family that feeds me not only on Sunday mornings, but also throughout the week. My life is stressful (as is everyone else's I'm sure), due to working full time and going to school full time, and studying for my certifications. You guys help me keep my head up and I'm so thankful for that.

God bless all y'all! :-D

Being your own boss

My boss took the day off...sounds nice, huh? I was in charge of taking ALL his phone calls while doing my own work. I didn't get many calls--it was slow today--but it made my job much more difficult. My boss drives me crazy, but it sure makes me appreciate him more. I got some awfully strange questions today, and several of them were answers I didn't have or couldn't get. I'll actually be glad to get him back on Monday.

On another topic, I had fun playing Wii Sports tonight. I'm still awful at it, but I'm improving. 214 and a 6-in-a-row strike streak in bowling isn't half bad.

Maybe I overstepped a bit

I'm tired so this won't be a long blog, but I wanted to share about tonight. The guy I talked to yesterday didn't make clear what his offer was until today. It turns out he wanted to get me into a marketing thing...I probably could have made money off of it, but I guess I misunderstood him initially. Oh well.

I'm not bummed or anything. I still had a great day!

Plug into the power

Have you ever had a pedal powered headlight for your bike? If so, you'll remember that the faster you pedal, the brighter the light--and when you stop you get about .5 seconds of light before its totally out. This is what people have when they try to live their life for themselves, and rely on their own power.

This week has been all about the power of God. Apparently I found the power outlet connected to a nuclear power station. I thought I was doing fine with my little bike-powered light...now I'm being given sight and the Son's light.

On Monday, I had my prof tell me that I should come talk to him about a job if I don't have one by June or July. Today, I was working at a local school with their IT guy. He asked me if I had ever thought of working for myself, I said I had but didn't have the means to do so. He replied that he owned his own company and that he would like to get together with me if I was interested in working in the IT field.

I've never had someone approach me about a job before, and since giving up the reigns in my life I had two different people ask me. I don't begin to believe in coincidence, therefore I must give praise to my God. I may not end up with either job, but my confidence has grown so much from these circumstances. May God be glorified by whatever choice he leads me to make.

"Getting it"

There's something I've struggled with for a very long time. In light of some conversations I had today, and the link I found to Ben Stein's movie, I just don't understand how people can be so ignorant.

A large portion of the people in the US would say they either believe in God, or they are Christian, but many of their lives bear no fruit. One of my family members (an older member) grew up in the church of fire & brimstone. He attends church every Sunday, but appears to merely hold down the pew. He has lived a great life, and I have a lot of respect for him. My fear is that he just doesn't understand about being 'saved'. Several family members have tried to broach the subject, but he's not receptive.

I'm just confused as to how so much evidence can be there, and be very clearly true, and yet people just don't understand it. I'm think it has something to do with having a hardened heart, I just wish I better understood what is happening.

Have you seen this? ExpelledTheMovie.com

I just watched the trailer for this, and it looks really interesting. What do you guys think?

My latest blessing

I've always been a bit unsure of myself. I always tried to blend into the framework...and couldn't handle the spotlight for fear of criticism. I've started getting involved with stuff, and am becoming more comfortable with taking compliments and criticism alike.

Anybody who is close to me knows I LOVE to learn. If there's something I'm interested in, I have a hunger for anything/everything I can learn about it. I never thought about the benefits of this, just the fact that I can learn to do stuff myself and save money (more toys for less money!). Since I've started on my degree in Information Technology: Network Administration, I've been waist-deep in anything I can learn. In one of my classes, there are roughly 10 people...not a huge class. I don't pay much attention in class--but that's beside the point. After class tonight, I stuck around for a couple minutes just talking to the prof. He is self employed and does very well with his startup company. Out of nowhere, he was telling me that he was impressed by what I know, how quickly I pick stuff up, and he told me that if I am still looking for a job in June/July (once I've got my certifications in A+, Net+, and Security+) that we'd 'talk'!

I've never had a job offer before, but I'm absolutely amazed by his offer. Granted, it wasn't a true job offer ("I'll give you $xxx to come work for me"), but that really made my day.

I'm not a vain person, but God has truly blessed me with many gifts. I only hope that I can glorify him through my gifts.

Now if I can just figure out how to be as interested in the Bible as I am other things...anybody have a good suggestion?

My wallet and my heart

Jesus spoke often about money during his time on Earth. Money is what makes the world go 'round. I've somewhat worshiped money all my life. It wasn't money for the sake of money, but has always been one kind of toy or another. Tithing seemed unimportant to me growing up.

When Casey and I first started dating, we were tithing like we should have been (funny thing about really connecting with a church!). She changed jobs and we no longer had the money to do so. We have given a little bit here and there as we have been able to. With the upcoming financial issues we're preparing for, we wanted to start tithing again. Last week we gave some (not what we are asked, but what we were able). This week we had even less to give. We had settled on an amount on the way to church, and were going to trust that we would be provided with the money to make it until next Friday. When we got to church, a fellow church member cornered Casey and wrote us a check (a very belated wedding gift). That really made our day, and gave us the ability to give our full tithe.

Trusting God to provide for us through the current and coming struggles is difficult, but we're trusting Him one M&M at a time. The great part about the 'Wait' series we're hearing in church right now, is that God is faithful and is showing us on a daily basis that what PK is saying is totally true. God has blessed us so much, and that just helps us to become closer to Him.

Sin and soda (This is for April 5th)

Some may think I'm crazy but I don't care. I see a link between the two.

I used to drink carbonated beverages quite frequently. They didn't bother me in the least. I decided to stop drinking them because it's not healthy, and I've been without it for a few years now. Every time I go back and drink some (on very rare occasions), I notice it nearly makes me sick.

It seems to me that sin is the same way. If you constantly fall for the same trap, you get to where it doesn't bother you--as you begin to justify it. Once you've been freed of that sin, if you are tempted to and succumb to it again it really sits heavily on your heart.

Don't worry, be happy...or something!

Casey found out today that she can take classes for CNA certification on Tuesday and Thursday nights. That is a blessing and a challenge all wrapped in one. The first is that she will have to do stuff for her math class outside of class (because its on Thursday). Then clinicals will be Saturdays and Sundays at the end of her class.

The good news is that she can work more hours (as opposed to taking classes from 8-12 M-F), so that means we're more financially sound than we were thinking we would be. It's definitely not going to be easy, but it will be doable.

We've both been struggling somewhat with the money aspects of what we're doing, but we have faith that God will provide for us--not make it easy mind you--but help keep a roof over our heads and food on our table. It's very difficult to give this all away, but we've just got to trust that we'll get 4 more M&M's when this 15 minutes is up...that way we can eat :)

My wife, my best friend

My wife is wonderful. I don't tell her that enough, but I try to every time I remember. There are many things I really appreciate about her:

-She is outspoken. I don't have to worry about whether she agrees/is upset/etc.
-She fights fair. When she is unhappy with me about something, she doesn't cut me down but she does get her point across.
-She manages to remember all the stuff I can't.
-She works hard from the moment she gets up (about 90 minutes before me daily), and still manages to stay up as late as I do.
-Without her, I'd be late going places, I would have a horribly messy house (I really need to help her more with this), I'd forget EVERYTHING.

My wife is my best friend. She doesn't let me be lazy or selfish (that's a full time job by itself), and she loves me in spite of my shortcomings. I know I'm difficult to deal with, but she does it very well. What a blessing she is to me. Maybe one of these days I'll be the same for her.

God give me motivation

Phillipians 4:13 says: "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me." I could use some of that strength right now to push on and continue doing my work for my classes. I'm burnt out on work, but moreso homework. I have 3 certifications to study for, 4 classes to do (for the certs), and a full time job. I haven't had time off--other than sick days--since my honeymoon 9 months ago. I need time off, but at this point that time off would be dedicated to studying (or maybe just playing Xbox and KNOWING that I should be studying).

My prayer for today is that God gives me the strength to carry on and keep at this.

I'm listening

I'm sitting here trying to come up with a "what I learned today" or something that God has been trying to teach me...but I'm coming up with nothing. That's okay though, I don't have to hear or learn something every day.

One thing I have noticed is that I am, and likely will continue to have problems with my tongue. What goes in, WILL come out...and all the music I listened to, all the movies I watched, and the things I hear my coworkers say all have an affect on what comes out of my mouth. Without a doubt, it has gotten better--but better isn't good enough. I'm not going to lose my drive, because I know I'll get to where I don't have to censor everything I say. I just have to stop filling my mind with them, and they will stop coming back out (eventually).