New blogger announcement

My incredible wife, Casey, has started blogging. I'm sure she can use lots of support in her new endeavor!

Please keep us in your prayers as we're about to be tested to our limits. I'm currently working full-time and she is working part-time, I'm about to start back into school and she is about to begin nursing school. We've made it over a year now (had our one year anniversary on the 14th of this month), but haven't had to deal with nursing school yet.

Phil 4:13 says "I can do all things through Him who gives me strength"...well we're gonna need it! Thank you for your prayers.

Obama and Christ

From the very beginning I have been a fan of Barack Obama. The fact that he lacks typical 'political experience' is not a negative in my book. Maybe I'm too cynical about our politicians, but between lobbyists and everything else I don't trust 'Washington experience'.

When Obama came along I felt like he had that fresh look to him...but something gets to me--and still bothers me: "I believe there are many paths to the same place, and that is a belief that there is a higher power, a belief that we are connected as a people." This is very obviously wrong...but he isn't the only one who has made this nature of statement. Our current president said this 4 years ago:

Charlie Gibson: Do we all worship the same God, Christians and Muslims?

President Bush: I think we do. We have different routes of getting to the Almighty.

Charlie Gibson: Do Christians and non-Christians, do Muslims go to heaven in your mind?

President Bush: Yes, they do. We have different routes of getting there.

I never liked Bush...but I'm finding myself between a rock and a hard place here. I don't like Obama's statement on beliefs, but I don't care of McCain either. I just don't know what to do, and I have the distinct impression that I'm not the only one.

Roll call?

Hey, I know there are a few of you who read my blog, and I'd like to see who is watching. Feedback is always helpful, too! So if you're reading this please comment just to let me know you're paying attention.

Thanks!

Running on empty

I am officially declaring that I want to live my life in a full manner. I want to get to where I'm living my life with some reserves in the tank. What do I mean? Well, more than just having a full tank of gas.

I want to live NOT paycheck to paycheck. I want to live my life without constantly feeling drained and tired. I want to live my life that I can have time for myself and my family. I want to live a worry-free life. Don't get me wrong...I don't want a life void of fun or anything like that.

When I was younger, I held everything on my shoulders. I had issues with ulcers and stress. I recently decided that most things weren't worth worrying about. I've been told that many people come to this realization when they have a heart-attack or some major medical problem where they realize their problem [life] is terminal. If I die tomorrow, is it going to matter that there's a few dishes in the sink, that there's a bed unmade, or a flower bed that isn't weeded? Not one bit!

I want to live with weekends where I can [mostly] relax. Working all week, then doing massive projects/running around all weekend, and then back to the work week is not a way to live life. If for no other reason than the fact that we are to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. Never slowing down may be a way to keep up with the Jones's, but that life--THE Rat Race--is a way to NOT efficiently get projects done, or work for that matter.

I want to live within my budget. Having gas cut significantly into my budget means I don't have enough reserves. It is my sincerest hope that I can budget to live off one income (great idea if one person loses a job!), save half of the other income, and use some of what's left for play. That way WHEN gas prices go higher, it isn't a big deal.

I want to live within the time allotted to me. I want to budget my time to have time for my God, my family, and myself.

I hope that sharing this may help some of the rest of you. If you have thoughts on this, please share them!

Meeting the neighbors

When you move to a new neighborhood, you never know who your neighbors will be. I remember [waaaay back] when I was a kid, moving meant your neighbors brought over cooked dishes and introduced themselves. The apartment I lived at for the past year was nothing like that. I never did meet my neighbors from anywhere around me.

Well, fast forward to our new home. The first day I went over and met our neighbors a few doors down. It turns out the neighbors consist of a 60-ish widowed woman, and two men in their mid-40's. I introduced myself and quickly figured out the guys are living an alternative lifestyle. I have never felt comfortable hanging out with 'them', but these neighbors are really fun to hang around.

I feel like God is trying to open my eyes to see everyone as a somebody rather than stereotyping and shutting people out. After spending some time with them, I just feel like I need to share His love. I don't agree with their choices, but I'm still called to love them as people. Who knows what God may do through me!

Ordinary people

First off, this is a long overdue blog. We've moved, we finished school for the semester, went on vacation...all sorts of crazy things going on. Anyhow...on to the important stuff!

Hearing Kris give the message today hit really close to home for me. Casey has truly changed my life and blessed me in so many ways I can't begin to count them. I'm sure she has no idea how much she has done for my confidence, my happiness, my work ethic, etc. She is not the only one, but has definitely had more influence on me than anyone else (isn't that how it's supposed to be?).

Anyhow, one thing I've tried to do at work (and everywhere else) is to catch people off guard by giving them a compliment--whether it's to them, or more importantly to someone they are accountable to.

My reasoning is this: in customer service, 99.99% of the time anything reported to a supervisor is negative. If you do your job well, you hear nothing...make one mistake and you get crucified for it by others. Because of this, I have made it a point to tell others when they are doing things right (ever heard of positive reinforcement?).

What I've noticed from my experiment--I don't just randomly point things out as positive...all my experiment is genuine--is that you really catch others off guard when you do this. Want to have a talk with someone? Try disarming them with POSITIVE comments. Don't butter them up, THEY MUST BE GENUINE!

By doing this, I have noticed a change in how others respond to me (and occasionally others). God wants us to show his love, but many people will shut down if you try and talk to them about Him. If you spread joy by your actions, you may just have better luck when you talk to them.

Random thoughts and an update

Well, there's good news and no news...I took 3 of the certification tests, and passed the 3 I took. The 4th I haven't taken yet. I have a few more days before it MUST be taken, and I wasn't ready for it when I had initially scheduled it. I'm thrilled by this latest blessing--and the fact that I now have something to show for all the money I've spent on school!

As far as random thoughts go, I want to talk about getting upset, mad, ticked off, etc. IT'S NOT WORTH IT!

The things that make us angry most often are things we have zero control over. A few examples:

My wife curbed the wheels on our car the other day. A guy behind her wasn't paying attention when she got over, so she bumped the curb rather than being rear-ended. When she told me, I was upset that there was damage to our car--that we're responsible for. If she had been hit by the idiot behind her, it would have been the other person's fault. Personal safety not being considered here, the damage had already been done by the time she told me. I wasn't happy about the damage, but staying in a crappy mood because of it WOULDN'T DO ANYTHING!

Here's another...I worked yesterday to take care of some customers that are unavailable during the week. Casey knew I was working, and what I had planned on doing. Things were going great because I got the first job done early. Unfortunately, the second one didn't take 15 minutes like I had hoped...it took almost 2 hours. When I told her where I was, she was very unhappy about it--as was I. I didn't want to work on Saturday to begin with...but I couldn't bail in the middle of doing my work, either. I could tell she was frustrated when I hung up with her, but by the time I had gotten home, she was just glad to have me there.

Sorry for the long stories. I'm not trying to put myself up on a pedestal, but I want to share a way that God has given me a blessing, and hopefully let you experience the same blessing He gave me.