Stories and other stuff

I think there's a little life lesson to be learned in this story, and it's this:  You think you know people, but what you know is kinda just what you see.  And what you see at work, OK, we interrupt this blog post for an important update:  The SNL skit on right now is a parody of Californians.  The guy is on a date with this girl and brings her home.  His friend is there and his date is married to his friend.  They've been separated eleven years. I can't make this stuff up.  ..Wow...Just wow! Anyway, no reading between the lines on this one.  I thought it was funny and thought y'all might too. My first supervisor at Hill asked me one day if I knew someone at the Guard.  I said I did and he told me about how he knew that person.  Small world, I thought... Today, I asked a guy I go to church with if he was related to the guy from the Guard.  He told me he was and it turns out that the three of them kinda sorta have their liv...

Y'all know by now that I think there's a life lesson or twenty to learn from a children's book called Because a Bug Went Ka-choo.     Today's story goes like this: I think I mentioned that the truck had a malfunction.  It happened the day after the car key quit working, which happened the day after I was planning on doing something about my, um....,  situation.  Anyway, I was able to drive it when I needed it for a while but a couple of weeks ago, that became a bad idea.  I figured out what it needed to make it drivable, and yesterday I bought the parts and installed them.  I drove the truck to work to make sure it would be all right because the kiddo wanted to use it today. Last night, I asked my boss if I could leave for a couple of hours so I could attend a Good Friday service at church.  He wasn't happy about it.  But because the crane we were using ran out of gas at just the time I needed to leave, he let me go.  I figured I'd h...

John 19:28-30 (NIV) Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. Can you imagine being there to hear “it is finished.”  So many hopes had been dashed at those words.  Surely, many thought, this man was the Messiah who would deliver Israel from the Romans.  Finished.  He died.  No angels came.  God didn’t come to save Him.  No miracle lifted Him from the hands of the oppressors.  Just "finished." 2,000 years later we understand what the disciples wouldn’t until three days later.  Yes, Jesus’ earthly life was finished.  But the new things were yet to come and the disciples had absolutely no way of kn...

I got a letter last night at work from my employer.  It was explaining that in response to the sequester, they had waived the requirement for reinstating use-or-lose annual leave (paid vacation).  We can only carry over so many hours, anything above that number, if you don't use it, you lose it.  Except this year because the budget cuts have created chaos. At first, the letter seems harmless, but when you read between the lines, what the letter says is "we're not going to let you take leave because we're already losing a day of work a week and we can't offer you overtime, either, so.... Sometimes you have to read between the lines.  Sometimes what's not said is just as important as what is said. And sometimes, not so much. I had this conversation with a good friend yesterday.  I'm so thankful I have a friend who thinks enough of me to tell me I'm nuts.  I need that, and sometimes I know things don't make sense in my life.  If you think I und...

I've always wondered what pastors were talking about when they talk about the power Christians have.   I think I found out over the weekend.  It's the power of the word, "no". I had a chance to say yes to a lot of things that in the past I would have said yes to.  And I didn't get the power to say no on my own.  It came with a lot of scrapes and bruises over the last three years.  I didn't do this on my own... I had help. It's the whole power of the Holy Spirit thing.  And it's pretty cool that things that used to master me, I now have the power over.  God's pretty good!  And I'm so thankful. I have to tell y'all that this is a pretty transforming thing that I didn't see coming.  For the last couple of weeks, I've been asking God to give me more faith because it's kind of hard to keep trusting when you don't know where you're going.  It didn't help that I'm physically weak from being ill all week and just f...

I honestly can't believe I saw this on MSNBC, but there it was.  The Gospel being delivered by a liberal media commentator, and with PASSION!

I had a bit of an epiphany last night.  I was listening to a radio program I enjoy which was kind of an answer to a prayer I had earlier.  About half-way through the program, though, I came to realize something.  That something we'll get to in a minute. A good part of being a Christian is enjoying fellowship with fellow Christians.  Some churches have this group or that.  I work nights and attend a small church, so groups aren't exactly for me.  Often times, there are things I'd like to attend that I miss, but for the most part, missing out on those things isn't a hardship.  They're things I'd like to do, but can't because I work.  They're not groups per-se, but more activities, like Bible study or sharing a hot dog in the summer. If my church did have a group thingie, there's really no group I fit into.  I'm not a couple.  I'm not single.  I'm not a widow.  What I am, for lack of a proper term, is alone. I realize it's b...

I've really been careful about the time I take off work lately.  I'm trying to improve my leave balances but had to make an exception this evening.  I had to do something about the Saturn because the temporary tag is just about expired and there was something wrong with the little thing. This is a good place to stop for a minute and state that I'd rather be lucky than good any day.  I mean that.  I'm good at fixing stuff, but I 'd rather be lucky any day.  Sometimes, to be sure, good helps, but I don't think good had anything to do with fixing the car this afternoon. I bought a set of front brake pads for the car because it sounded like the wheel was going to fall off sometimes when you stopped the car.  That was a few months ago.  After I bought them, I pulled off the wheel fully expecting to need to turn the rotor or replace it and the pads, but upon inspection, the pads had plenty of wear left on them.  I've been driving the thing like ...

Sometimes, you may not get what you want, but you get what you need.  Today's an example of that. Follow the link and read the story, written coincidentally(?) by a man named Bob. God is Good! and today I'm praising Him for sustaining me with this. http://christianpf.com/becoming-a-tree/

I want to share something with y'all today, but to understand it, you'll have to complete a reading assignment.  I've probably pointed this out before, but read the first three chapters of the book of Hosea from the Bible. I'm no prophet, but what it does prove is that what I'm going through ain't exactly unprecedented. If I weren't where I was supposed to be, would it not stand to reason God would be leading me someplace else?  Especially if I'm willing to follow Him where He wants me to go? Sometimes, it's hard to have faith in things that don't make a lick of sense; like someone rolling back that stone and finding the tomb empty. I have faith in God.  I know what He wants for me is best.  And it doesn't mean that reconciliation in my life is going to happen.  I get that.  But for now, I'm where I need to be.

“There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, "Thy will be done," and those to whom God says, in the end, "Thy will be done." All that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find. Those who knock it is opened. ”  ― C.S. Lewis, The Great Divorce Color me in the first group. Happy St Patrick's Day!

One of the things I learned about the same time I learned how God speaks to His children these days is that sometimes it pleases God to take us back in our past a little bit, when it serves His purpose.  Today was such a day. Many of my Guard friends will remember back to when I almost bought a mansion.  At the last minute, the deal fell apart.  Over the next year, we'd have a couple of more bites at that apple, but the thing always seemed just out of reach. Today I had an opportunity to return to the mansion under some different circumstances.  The folks who would eventually buy said property kindly donated some things to our church and I had the opportunity to help pick them up. I have a great deal of empathy for people these days and today I'm also cognizant of the meaning, "there but for the Grace of God go I."  Sometimes no can be a big blessing.  At the time, I sure didn't think so, but with an opportunity to look back on the whole thing, maybe ...

I was looking at the blog and noticed that I hadn't posted anything since Sunday.  That doesn't mean I haven't tried, but it's just been one of those weeks where I was preoccupied with other things. I talked last week about being a white hot coal for the Lord.  Um, like that kind of fire, by just blowing on it gently you can rekindle the flames.  I've had more opportunities to share some of the Good News this week than anytime I can remember in the last couple of years.  It's been an interesting week. I ran into a friend I hadn't seen in a while today.  I'm so glad I did.  Speaking to him really brightened my day. Today has been a very blessed day.  I spent some time with a friend from church this morning.  I bought lightbulbs and trash bags at the homey depot, bread and some other stuff at the Winco (where I saw a couple dancing in the aisle, but that's another story for another day),  Then the commissary, where I found a lot of good d...

I had an opportunity to show some love to the community yesterday. Several, and by that I mean more than ten, of the local churches in Ogden for a morning yesterday put aside denominational differences and got together for a time for worship and community service.   Nick Vujicic joined us for a few minutes in the morning to get us fired up.  This is the first time I'd seen this man and if you've never heard of him, take a few minutes and google his name.  He'd been in the state for a couple of days at the invitation of Gov. Gary Herbert to speak to the youth of Utah about bullying. This man is a strong testament to God's grace and I'm so happy I had a chance to hear him speak in person.  Our church showed a video presentation of an event he did here in northern Utah on Thursday last night, and I'm so sorry I missed both events.  Sometimes working nights isn't all it's cracked up to be. Anyway, the worship service on Saturday morning was a bit non-t...

No, I'm not boasting.  Miss June, well, she could grow anything in practically nothing and to tell you the truth, she's taken to that very task. One of the bedrooms upstairs is now doubling as a greenhouse.  There are little sprouts of this and that in this or that pot growing everyplace.  I gotta give props where they're due and Miss June deserves lots of 'em. One of the things Miss June made a point of telling me is that she's proud of me because I gave canning a shot last year and according to her, I did a good job.  She really liked the barbeque sauce I made.  Compliments from a professional homemaker like that make me feel good.  Miss June works her butt off in the garden each year and I love her to pieces for it. But then there's me.  I'm stupid.  I know not a lot about gardening.  I know more this year than last because of trial and error.  And I know some things work better than others.  I already wrote a story about t...

Short post today. There are days where I want to stick my big nose into my life.  Today would be one of them but I went to church yesterday and the admonition of the pastor to remember to keep quiet when quiet is necessary, coupled with the $500 car key reminded me that I have other things I need to do today. Apparently church was exactly what I needed yesterday, not that it isn't every Sunday, but there are days when the lesson needs to be learned, and quickly.  When that happens, it gets reinforced.  This one lesson, I already have the right heart for, but not necessarily the means.  If you took a look at the scripture verses I posted yesterday, you'll know what I'm talking about.  If you didn't, you should. Also, for those I'm Facebook friends with, y'all should take a little look at my page today.  I shared three things... one was not germane to yesterday's post, but two were, and those two were straight out of yesterday's sermon. What do you...

There are times when you passively listen to things and then there are times when something happens to you that you hear what was said earlier in the day because it's important. I'm having a day like that and I'm for sure listening. You're going to have to open your Bibles for today's blog because to fill in the blank in the title, you're gonna have to do some reading again.  I have some stories to tell, but of course I'm going to leave out a few of the details. Today started with church.  I worked last night and was beat.  I didn't sleep well and missed the pancake breakfast this morning but I did make it, on time, for the worship service.  The pastor talked about firstfruits.  I really listened to the sermon because, I believe, one of the reasons our garden did so well was because we gave away most of the first things we grew as a sacrifice in keeping with giving the firstfruits to God in the Old Testament.  It's not much, but it's a way ...

Galatians 6:7-8 says "do not be decieved.  God cannot be mocked.  A man reaps what he sows.  The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature, will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. This is the Word of the L ORD. Online, I can be anything I want to be.  I can say I'm thin, athletic, good looking.  I can be thirty.  I could say I was 20 but I don't play video games or speak the language of a 20 year old so that's probably not going to fly.  My point is though, that I can represent myself any way I choose and online, nobody knows the difference.  When you meet me face-to-face though, what you see isn't going to bear out with any of the things I could choose to represent myself as.  In short, just because I say something, doesn't mean it's the truth. Yes, I'm going someplace with this.  Hang in there, you'll see in a minute. I shared the verse with you beca...