Stories and other stuff

It's sad for me that my friend Jim is gone.  You don't really realize how close you get to people, until they're not there anymore.  Yesterday, I heard a good deal about my buddy Jim at his memorial service.  And fortunately, Jim had good friends as well that he confided in about some of the people in his life. Jim was my coffee drinking buddy.  At just the right time, Jim would call me and invite me to coffee or over to his house for a cup of coffee.  He was always good for a story, a laugh, some advice when he thought I needed it, and helped me diagnose the truck issue I had last summer.  Jim had just about every tool you can think of and was always kind enough to loan them to me when I needed one he had and I couldn't afford. I'm not sad for Jim though.  I know (and this is the first time I can say I fully understand that statement) that Big Jim is at home with Jesus.  He's not experiencing the physical suffering that kept him sidelined for...

Hey gang.  Still alive. Just speechless and dumbfounded these days about the awesome things God does in my life.  Maybe someday I can tell you the story. Just not now.

My week so far has been like this: On Sunday, the kid and I switched cars.  Probably a good thing because I had to switch cars with someone else on Sunday (well not switch...but park one and drive someone else's to the house and change the oil and stuff) and his was better on gas than mine. On Monday, I went to find my keys and badge for work that I usually just keep in the truck.  Unfortunately the lanyard and toolbox keys were gone, but the badge and other things with it were in the back seat of the truck.  They'd somehow got separated from the keys and lanyard.  I have the important stuff though.  I had a spare set of keys for two of the three locks on my toolbox set.  My buddy was able to get the top lock on my box open and had a spare lock that fit the box with a key in his locker. Pack rat paid off! My week has been like that.  God looks out for me in so many ways.  I just thought it was a nice story to share with y'all.