Category: Uncategorized

Newton had it right…

What goes up must come down. Or in some cases…What goes in must come out.

In most every serious blog entry I find myself trying to work through things or
beliefs or just my emotions. This one is no exception…no exception
at all.

I was watching the “idiot box” last night waiting for the Biggest Loser to come on the screen. As I watched, there were all these commercials for “Lipstick Jungle” and “Desperate Housewives” and a few more smutty, soft-core shows. Even some commercials for Nutrisystem and some Loreal products came on that were so provocative that I just turned my head in shame.

I know that the world is just that…the world. And that I’m supposed to live in the world, but not live as the world lives. These commercials are only offensive to Lovely and me as far as our house goes. No one seems to see the “world” in it. Sex-driven ads and provocatively/scantily dressed women splattered all over everything…not just TV. We need to shelter Little Bear from this world. Of course, that doesn’t mean that we go stupid and tell her to close her eyes when we watch something that is too racey…it means that we don’t watch anything racey. And along those means, we teach and train her what the bible teaches about sensuality in the context of marriage. It means that when she asks a question about what other people say things or do things that are contrary to our beliefs that we educate…not try to act like it didn’t happen. But, of course, we DO need to shelter her because as Proverbs says, “Foolishness is locked up in a child” and we have to be mature, not lacking anything. We have to teach little Bear that we need to surround ourselves with people that have similar sensitivity to God’s heart as we grow. And as we are empowered by God, we reach out to those not surrounded by the hope and beliefs in order to spread the truth of God and the gospel of Jesus, the Christ.

As I reflect on it, the Bible says that Jesus pretty much hung out with everyone that everyone hated or thought that they were the scum of the earth. He ministered to them and met more than their immediate needs. He met needs of eternal proportion. Like the woman at the well…Jesus spoke to her even though she was a Samaritain and He, a Jew. He spoke with authority into her life…and hope for the future. He didn’t promise that times wouldn’t be rough or that life would be easy and without pain or grief. He did promise living water that she would never thirst again. But you see Jesus throughout the Bible seperating himself from everyone else to pray and to be “re-energized” before going out again.

I’m finding that I should do a lot more praying and studying. My family and the people around me that I affect (whether pointing them to Christ by my actions and reactions or pointing them away) deserve a more clear and consistant Christian to watch and judge.

Father, please forgive me for being self-centered and prideful. I
make every possible plan that I can and neglect to wait for your direction and
plan. I fail to see your will as possible and try to make my own way,
which I know leads to failure due to rebellion and disobedience. God,
please correct me and guide me in Your way. God please restore my heart
and the heart of my family. I submit to your guidance and your will for
us. I long to be mature in faith. I know that I have failed trial
after trial because I have hardened my heart to your voice. Break my
heart, God. Please hear my voice and teach me to listen to yours.
Amen

Thoughts on life and death

These are just initial thoughts, mind you…

I heard the other evening that a beloved radio personality (Rick Burgess of Rick & Bubba Inc.) lost the life of his two-year old son over the weekend. On hearing this news, I was really taken back. I was in shock for a while. You know, you hear of people going through stuff like this everyday…My grandma passed away, my father passed away, but it just so terribly heartbreaking when a child passes away. I mean, they didn’t even really get to live life. They will never know love within a marriage. They will never get the thrill of watching their children being born. They will never know the experience of a high school or college graduation. Of course, as one of the radio guys said this morning, “…they will never know the pain of heartbreak in a relationship. They will never know the pain of burying a parent. They will never know the pain of being teased at school…” While these things are true…the Burgess family also talked to their son Bronner about Jesus on a consistant basis. He knew about Jesus and the love that He offers. The Burgess family is sure that Bronner is in heaven with Jesus right now.

So, thoughts…Life is a battlefield. Just like Joseph went through hardship and rejection from his brothers, he allowed God to turn every situation into a chance to bring glory to God, the Creator. God has equipped us with everything we need to make it through life. He gives us strength and authority through the Holy Spirit and through the blood of Christ. He gives us the truth we can call on for encouragement and a weapon against the enemy. God gives us maturity through all of these situations. And when you feel like you are lacking all you have to do is ask. (Matt 7, James 1)

Death of the human body…to the family and friends absolutely is heart-wrenching. In Christ, death of the human body is beginning of worship and adoration in heaven…free from affliction and disease and pain.

So while there is hurt and pain on earth…try to rejoice in the fact that if your loved one called upon the name of God and was saved by the grace of God through the blood of Christ then he/she worshipping the King of Kings and Lord of Lords…right now!!! Just like our second baby is…

Mini-Road Trip

So my job required me to leave yesterday (Thursday) to drive to Tennessee. Why? Well, without giving out too much info, I had to appear in a court hearing on behalf of SU collections and finance department. Long story short…great rental car, superb hotel (that I couldn’t seem to sleep in), quick court hearing, safe but long drive back to the office. That’s about it.

A few more details…

Thanks to the people at the Clarion hotel in downtown Chattanooga, TN for all of your fine hospitality and lack of continental breakfast. Your decor and huge flat screen TV does make up for the lack of food as I am running to a court hearing.

Thanks to Enterprise Rent-a-Car for picking the 2008 Dodge Avenger for me to drive. (It as changed my mind about Mopar products.)

Thanks to SU for giving me money to spend on food. I could have taken my family out for what I spent at one meal by myself. By the by, if you ever need someone to take another trip, sign me up, please.

And last but most certainly not least, thank you Starbucks for waking me up after the court hearing was over and breakfast was being had. I love you, Starbucks Anniversary blend. You are the wind in my sails, the pep in my step, and the oil that lubes my mental gears for working.

Road Trip/Man Trip

We flew out the Birmingham Airport right around 7:15 a.m. on Friday, January 11. Why? Who? Andy, Sasha, Sean, and myself went to Rhode Island to pick up a Turtle-bus for the Village program. We flew up and drove back. Yup…drove back. All in all, just over 30 hours on the road. Since we were going up, Sasha decides to map out a bit of a sight-seeing trip (Sean added the Clam Chowdah stop). Here is a general itinerary of the trip.

Birmingham, AL – fly out 7:05 a.m. – Reach Baltimore, MD at 9:45
Baltimore, MD – Fly out at 10:40 a.m. – Reach Providence, RI at 11:45

Turtle-bus delivered around 12:15 p.m. Load up, gas up, and head to:

Boston, Mass for clam chowdah
Cambride, Mass to visit Harvard University and to get some Starbucks
Times Square, New York City, NY
“Ground Zero” (see below – the site of 9/11/01 attacks on the World Trade Center Towers
in New York City
Washington D.C. – U.S. Capitol, Jefferson Monument, Washington Monument, and

we attempted to see the White House

You can check out this Youtube video to get a snapshot of the weekend.

You can check out my Flickr site for some crazy pics.

Thoughts on The Man God Uses…

I was on lunch break today and I failed to bring my UnderCover book to read. So I looked in my shoulder bag (or manpurse) and noticed that I had a small book in there. So I grabbed it on my way up to the food court @ SU.

As I was reading through, there seem to be several parallels to the UnderCover book. Constant references to how God views the heart of man and that submission to His will and willingness to abide in Him and vice versa. One paragraph seemed to jump out at me.

“A Paradox” from page 7

“First Corinthians 15:10 contains a great paradox. ‘By the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harded than all of them-yet not I, but the grace of God that was in me.’ Our character is developed fully by the power and grace of God which works within us. Yet, it is also a conscious decision we make to bring our mind, heart, and actions into line with God’s will.”

The Man God Uses by Henry and Tom Blackaby

God’s grace seems to empower us to do what it is that we are called to do…which is to worship and glorify Him. Through everything that we are we should point all thoughts, prayers, words, actions, and all that we are, which if we call on the name of God and live in the presence of the Holy Spirit, we are sons of God. Then we can cast off our old self since we are no longer bound to live in fear of what used to be since we can call on our Abba, Father for all that we need…including the strength and maturity in Christ.

This has been promised to be a journey from our first breaths to our last. I find encouragement in that. Why? God is everlasting. Unlike people in our lives, God will always be your constant. And as we are created in His image, we, too, to are to be constant in our faith, unwavering, and steadfast.

Thoughts on my eyes…

I was thinking about it today on my way to work. It=the control of my eyes

I left the parking lot and was walking the stretch of sidewalk that takes me to the officina. About 20 feet ahead of me there was a young lady walking in the same direction. Simply, she was attractive (one draw back to working for a University) and so I decided that the best idea would to be to stare at the buildings. I made no noise or comment. Just looked away.

My thoughts took me to something my pastor said about this subject. He said, “You need to think of ALL women as your sister. You wouldn’t look at your sister in a lustful way would you? No! So just think of it that way. Then you will be able to acknowledge that, yes, your sister is beautiful, but you won’t have to deal with the lust.” Today that didn’t work. I still just glanced the once. Not in a lustful way. I thought clearly and innocently…”she is attractive,” then glanced away.

Today, this is what worked…

I am fortunate enough to be married. As most men do, I married WAY out of my league. Lovely is a wonderful wife who is loving and supportive. She is also a great mother who is teaching our child about life, love, responsibility (even as a 15 month old), and having a Christ-like attitude. So my thought today was that my body is not my own. I don’t belong to me. I belong to God and my wife. Well, much like 1 Corinthians mentions that you can’t have a head without a torso…you need the whole body (speaking of the body of the bride of Christ)…all parts must be included. Well, my eyes would be included. My wife wouldn’t look at a women in a lustful way. So why should I? It’s like to Bible says, that external beauty will fade. The young lady that was walking in front of me will age and as age and gravity seem to make a dreadful team. My wife is more beautiful than I ever could have imagined. Sure we both have packed on some pounds. We both know that and admit that to each other. But I’m beginning to look at her like Solomon looked at his Shulamite wife in Song of Songs after years of marriage.

Lovely, thank you for being and absolute encouragement to me even when I’m not next to you. My prayer is that I would honor God by the way I love you.

Thoughts on obedience…

So I’ve been reading on this book called UnderCover by John Bevere. So far the book is about submission and obedience to God. Not just the idea of being obedient when you don’t want to be. This is about having a heart for blind faith and obeying God like your life depends on it. (Because it does.)

Mr. Bevere writes in a way that really gives you a visual approach for application. He helps by painting pictures of Bibilical situations that layout his points. He doesn’t seem to pull stuff out of the air…he sticks to the truth. After all, the truth is all God knows…because He is truth. (Thank you Brother Bynum for your inspiring blog.)

The first few chapters were a little slow to develop due to building the importance of obedience and how we, as humans, have gotten to the point of distance from Him that we are at. (Since I thought it was slow, that means that I will have to go back and re-read because I probably missed something important)

I just stepped into chapter six and this book is already taking me for a loop. So far we have covered Cain and why his offering was not accepted. We’ve looked into King Saul and when he messed up with the battle with the Amalekites. The detail and the small choices that were made to come to such disaster…even with good intentions. It’s amazing.

I’ll delve more into it and do brief updates on it as I read and re-read.

If you get a chance, check this book out!!

Gnome-tastic

Sorry for the switch, good people.

I donned the Mike the Bull (miguel el toro) when I was working at the restaurant. There were 3 Mikes that worked there, so I had to change it up a little. There was Miguel (the cook), Miguel/Michael/Mike (the cook’s son and manager), and then me. They called me Miguel due to my learning to speak Spanish there. So we decided to leave Miguel the cook’s name as it was. Miguel/Michael/Mike the manager became Todo (which means everything), and the I became el Toro. Since I’m no longer working there (and haven’t in several months) I will cast off the name and for the new year, give myself a new, more valiant name.

Mike, the Uber-Gnome!!!

I’m only calling myself “Uber” because I am taller than your average gnome. That and as I grow my beard out I begin to take on a Gnome-like semblance.

Please stay tuned to the Gnome-tastic blog entries. And also stay tuned for more gnomey fun.

The newness of life…

Happy New Year Blog and Bloggers!!!

I’m sure that 2008 will prove to be an amazing year. 2007 seemed to be the year of loss, but we’ve closed the door on that chapter.

A quick (and I do mean quick) overview of the year known as 2007:

Baby Ben was born (Woo Hoo!)
Two moves of residence (making a total of 9 in 5 years)
Baby Elias was born (Yee haw)
Have worked up to 75+ hours/wk for about 6 months
Two family members died (baby Tobias 3/27/07 and Granny DeVine 12/27/07)
The car broke down
Little Bear had her first birthday
A total of 5 job interviews
Grew a beard for 4 months
Learned to wait on tables
Taught a choir
Taught three sets of guitar classes
And fell in love with Lovely all over again

I know that 2008 already has a ton to offer. A few new beginnings.

The best thing is that I have goals for the new year…no resolutions. What are they? You’ll see. One of my goals is that I should keep a little more personal info to myself.

So here goes. Let’s step into this new year and keep our eyes peeled for what God has in store for us, eh?

Criminal

Dammit! I feel like a criminal!

I have always felt this way. I devote time and energy and…then a change. All that time! Where did it go? Was I lying when I said that I wanted to stay? I don’t think so, but it sure feels that way. To me, that is the way it looks. I mean, I’ve been asking for change, but now that the change is coming, I feel I have cheated those around me. Flat out disrespect of the loyalty entrusted to me. Especially with the timing of all of this.

Too, in my current situation, I have always felt like it was a stepping stone of sorts, but have, in the past, walked passed about 5 opportunities to make a little more money just because of the security that the current job offers. Now, with this new opportunity, it is with someone that I truly trust that has my best interests at heart…very much unlike the job with the Plumbing Company or any retail or restaurant job that I’ve taken. This new position will require much more but it also offers a bunch more than I ever thought of putting into a negotiation package for myself.

Still, I feel like I am a hypocrite while I walk around doing my filing, processing reports, and completing paperwork when I know that my time is limited. It brings out the brevity in life, you know? I still can’t help feeling like a secret spy or an undercover person that goes in and deceives everyone around until it’s time for the bust. I can’t even say when I’ll be clocking out for the last time due to a few pieces of info that are just up in the air.

My apologies to LS, GB, and the crew at SU in advance. Sorry that at some point I’ll end up leaving you high and dry (so to speak). Just know that this decision has given me peace about mine and my family’s future, but has brought me anxiety as for how this will leave you all in a bind.
I just wish I could work both jobs.