A year in review
Today is a day for giving glory to God! It's been an interesting couple of days for me, with good and bad news. The good news is a blessing. The bad is a way for me to show someone very dear to me that I'm not who I was.
The blessings part: In the course of finding some information for the Mrs. regarding our tax return, I had to download copies of my two previous tax returns from 2008 & 2009. Looking at 2008's return I found a huge, glowing error. I didn't claim my son as a dependent on my 2008 return. I don't know how I made this simple, stupid mistake, but I did. The blessing comes from catching the error in time to file an amended return. I received a refund in 2009 and that refund will be bigger once I file an amendment. I have a rather large tax bill this year because of circumstances and that refund will help pay the deficit I owe this year. That's a blessing.
Another blessing is the potential to recover some money owed to me. It's money I never expected to receive and it'll be a nice sum of money. It won't be all of what I was owed, but something is better than nothing. In working with the person that owes me the money, I had an opportunity to demonstrate fairness and understanding. Again, a blessing.
I started this post Friday night after work but didn't finish it. It's been a long couple of days. During these last two days, I've had time to look back on who I was and who I am now, and where I've been and where I'm headed.
It's been a year of growth for me. I've learned so much about life in this short time. As I look back at the last year, especially the last six months, I realize how much I've changed and that I like the person I am today so much better than the person I was a year ago. As I look back at the last year, I realize the most dramatic changes have happened since last September.
It took me a while to understand what being a Christian meant. I had to learn as I attended church and began to read and more importantly understand God's word and start applying it to my life, that being a Christian is more than saying it, and attending church every Sunday. I have to actually live the Word (something I had a hard time adjusting to at first) and radically change my thinking on just about everything that was part of my life.
I'm blessed that I had people in my life that helped me with that; one by calling me out indirectly (I was a casual acquaintance of hers but we shared a mutual friend and she made the comment to my friend) about something I was saying but not doing. That one really hit home and that person was absolutely right for doing that. I realized quickly the person was right and I was wrong. Looking back, I can see that's when God started working in my life.
If I look back on the pivotal moment of my life last year, the moment I realized God was taking an active role in my life, it would be when Bucket (I miss the wondermutt!) ran away from home and the people that found him named him "Max". That's when I started back down the path to where I am today.
To get there, I had to let go of a lot of things. I had to let go of this obsession of having to have the best of everything. I had to radically change my thoughts about how I valued people and relationships. I had to start applying the things I'd learned to my life and when I did, I started to see changes in it. I began to view my troubles in a whole new light and understand that for every trial there was a lesson to be learned. I had to rethink just about everything. I also had to quit trying to run my life and make decisions based on what I wanted.
It works so much better when I don't.
I still have my faith called into question. I get accused of being a phony by one person in my life when I don't quite say what she necessarily wants to hear or do what she wants me to do. When that happens, I just kind of look at the situation and smile because I know what the truth is. I know what I do, how I act, what I believe. By now, you should too because I share it enough with you. I know it's part of my life and it's usually directed at me by the person's refusal to believe I've changed. My speech isn't the same, my actions aren't the same, my thoughts about things aren't the same. Some, I guess, will never accept that it's possible for someone to change. I couldn't have done it on my own. I'm too old and used to be too stubborn. God changed me for the better and all the credit and glory belong to Him.
It didn't happen overnight. I still make mistakes sometimes because I'm still human. I find though, that I don't get upset easily anymore. That's also a blessing because me & the wife have had a difficult couple of days. What I didn't do during the course of either day was lose my temper, get snotty, nor any of the things I used to do. Those "Four Agreements" I learned from the book by the same title really do help me out. I was impeccable with my word. I spoke the truth. I didn't make assumptions (other than in my own little head) about the situation. When I have questions, I ask them. I don't take the things that come my way personally. I accept them, try to deal with them, which leads me to the last agreement. I try to do that the best I can using the things I've learned in the Bible as a guide for dealing with them.
That's about it for today. Quite a lot, I know, but it's been quite a year. I like the person I'm becoming. I enjoy seeing God at work in my life and I hope by sharing that I'm sharing the Good News and showing you examples of the blessings, even through the trials, that I've received. Palm Sunday today. Pastor Karl invited you to join us if you don't have a church of your own. I hope you'll take him up on the offer and I'll see some of you today.
That too, would be a blessing.
The blessings part: In the course of finding some information for the Mrs. regarding our tax return, I had to download copies of my two previous tax returns from 2008 & 2009. Looking at 2008's return I found a huge, glowing error. I didn't claim my son as a dependent on my 2008 return. I don't know how I made this simple, stupid mistake, but I did. The blessing comes from catching the error in time to file an amended return. I received a refund in 2009 and that refund will be bigger once I file an amendment. I have a rather large tax bill this year because of circumstances and that refund will help pay the deficit I owe this year. That's a blessing.
Another blessing is the potential to recover some money owed to me. It's money I never expected to receive and it'll be a nice sum of money. It won't be all of what I was owed, but something is better than nothing. In working with the person that owes me the money, I had an opportunity to demonstrate fairness and understanding. Again, a blessing.
I started this post Friday night after work but didn't finish it. It's been a long couple of days. During these last two days, I've had time to look back on who I was and who I am now, and where I've been and where I'm headed.
It's been a year of growth for me. I've learned so much about life in this short time. As I look back at the last year, especially the last six months, I realize how much I've changed and that I like the person I am today so much better than the person I was a year ago. As I look back at the last year, I realize the most dramatic changes have happened since last September.
It took me a while to understand what being a Christian meant. I had to learn as I attended church and began to read and more importantly understand God's word and start applying it to my life, that being a Christian is more than saying it, and attending church every Sunday. I have to actually live the Word (something I had a hard time adjusting to at first) and radically change my thinking on just about everything that was part of my life.
I'm blessed that I had people in my life that helped me with that; one by calling me out indirectly (I was a casual acquaintance of hers but we shared a mutual friend and she made the comment to my friend) about something I was saying but not doing. That one really hit home and that person was absolutely right for doing that. I realized quickly the person was right and I was wrong. Looking back, I can see that's when God started working in my life.
If I look back on the pivotal moment of my life last year, the moment I realized God was taking an active role in my life, it would be when Bucket (I miss the wondermutt!) ran away from home and the people that found him named him "Max". That's when I started back down the path to where I am today.
To get there, I had to let go of a lot of things. I had to let go of this obsession of having to have the best of everything. I had to radically change my thoughts about how I valued people and relationships. I had to start applying the things I'd learned to my life and when I did, I started to see changes in it. I began to view my troubles in a whole new light and understand that for every trial there was a lesson to be learned. I had to rethink just about everything. I also had to quit trying to run my life and make decisions based on what I wanted.
It works so much better when I don't.
I still have my faith called into question. I get accused of being a phony by one person in my life when I don't quite say what she necessarily wants to hear or do what she wants me to do. When that happens, I just kind of look at the situation and smile because I know what the truth is. I know what I do, how I act, what I believe. By now, you should too because I share it enough with you. I know it's part of my life and it's usually directed at me by the person's refusal to believe I've changed. My speech isn't the same, my actions aren't the same, my thoughts about things aren't the same. Some, I guess, will never accept that it's possible for someone to change. I couldn't have done it on my own. I'm too old and used to be too stubborn. God changed me for the better and all the credit and glory belong to Him.
It didn't happen overnight. I still make mistakes sometimes because I'm still human. I find though, that I don't get upset easily anymore. That's also a blessing because me & the wife have had a difficult couple of days. What I didn't do during the course of either day was lose my temper, get snotty, nor any of the things I used to do. Those "Four Agreements" I learned from the book by the same title really do help me out. I was impeccable with my word. I spoke the truth. I didn't make assumptions (other than in my own little head) about the situation. When I have questions, I ask them. I don't take the things that come my way personally. I accept them, try to deal with them, which leads me to the last agreement. I try to do that the best I can using the things I've learned in the Bible as a guide for dealing with them.
That's about it for today. Quite a lot, I know, but it's been quite a year. I like the person I'm becoming. I enjoy seeing God at work in my life and I hope by sharing that I'm sharing the Good News and showing you examples of the blessings, even through the trials, that I've received. Palm Sunday today. Pastor Karl invited you to join us if you don't have a church of your own. I hope you'll take him up on the offer and I'll see some of you today.
That too, would be a blessing.
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