Stories and other stuff

Wow, I haven't written a post in over two months. I need to change that. Lots going on in life.  Since I wrote this, my pastor resigned, Cindy is not in my life, and my roommates are gone. And I have a different job. It's been a busy month. The thing with Cindy ended like this:  There was a dream, and in the dream there was a time for things to end.  It was in the fall of this year.  I had to see this thing through to the end.  Something told me it was gonna be a period of seven sevens.  I was thinking weeks when I annotated that passag of Scripture.  It was 49 months. Cindy turned 49 in late August.  In September it was 49 months that had passed since we met.  Cindy lives in Logan.  On the last day of the 49th month, Cindy, myself, and the other person were in the WinCo foods store in Ogden on a Sunday afternoon after church.  She saw me and hid from me. I didn't see her.  The Thursday after during a prayer meeti...

Here is the message I gave at church today. What unites us? Today, is men’s Sunday, and I’m very honored to represent the men of the church this morning by bringing you this message. I want to begin by telling you that I’m following in some large footsteps.   Thank you ladies for that wonderful and inspiring service.   Suzanne’s message really hit home with me.   Often times, the answers we need are so simple, and an hour after leaving here, I’d finally arrive at the other side of a storm I’ve been in, but that’s a different story for a different day.   So again, thank you ladies for being the blessing you are.   And thanks again to Suzanne for that poignant and timely word. So, What unites us? Because God kind of led me to this, and in terms of the day being Laymen’s Sunday, I found Romans 12:1-8.   And from that passage of Scripture, we can glean some things that unite us. Paul starts off chapter 12 by talking about o...

Stuff breaks.  I get that.  But hoo, boy.....it's been happening with a lot of regularity around here lately. The coffee pot won't drip a full pot. The shower head leaks. The handle to the lawnmower snapped off in my hand, in mid turn. The belt on the carpet cleaner is shot. And the list goes on and on. Hey, things happen, and I'm grateful for getting the use out of it that I've had, but it just feels like there's been a full-on assault on the checkbook lately. And that's not the only assault. I'm marching toward something.  That something involves a person, and I know it doesn't make any sense.  But still, I don't see another path. I do see, though, lots of opportunities lately to take the wrong path, and that has me worried as well. I've been with the wrong person before.  It was not a pleasant experience to have God intervene in that situation, all three times.  The last time wasn't my fault, and the minute she kissed me...

I am blessed.  Blessed to live where I do, to have the job I have, and to have the people in my life that I do.  I know that, so this isn't complaining.  I'm telling a story.  That's all. I have a lot of broken things.  My truck runs, but not well in the heat.  My computer works, but my profile on this computer somehow got corrupted.  Bucky ran away, and that busted my checking account some.  The carpet cleaner was broken.  I changed the belt but it still didn't work, and my bedroom carpet was a mess from Mr. Bucky's muddy adventure.  To top it off, a piece of plastic somehow found its way into the impeller of the pump for the washing machine.  When I cleared the jam, I reinstalled the pump and forgot to hook up the drain line for the washer, so my laminate floor has some warps in it from the water that got into the seams.  The pump doesn't work, either, so for the time being, no washing machine.  And then there was June...

Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.      Psalm 119:105 I'm reading, albeit slowly, a book called Jesus Club. It's a book about how this guy started a ministry at the high school he graduated from and how it grew. Yesterday, I read a story about how he was passing a skateboard shop, needing $200 more dollars for something God told him to do and he heard God telling him to go to the skateboard shop.  After a brief argument, he gave in, flipped a u-turn and went in. Turns out, he'd met the lady who owned said shop before, while standing in line at an amusement park near their home and had enough of a conversation that she remembered him.  He told her of his need for $200.  She started crying because God had laid it on her heart that she needed to take $200 with her to work because she was gonna meet someone who needed it. Great story.  I love how God's people, when they yield to Him, get stuff done. I prepared today's Bibl...

I am not the smartest person I know.  I have not always held that opinion of myself, but seven years of God's refining fire have all but eliminated the high regard I once held myself in.  That's a great thing, by the way.  Anyway, with that said, I hold a high regard for learned people because often times I learn things from even those I disagree with My choice for news as of late is MSNBC.  I came to my own understanding several years ago that Fixed News (I really miss Keith Olbermann) aka Fox News is anything but fair and balanced. I can distinguish news from commentary. News is what gets reported on.  Panels discussing reported news is commentary. I work nights so I don't see many of their shows but I did tonight and what I saw on MSNBC frightened me.  I saw two grown-ups, two well established, card carrying Republicans Diana DelPerciuo, and George Will express concerns about our President. And I saw Rachel Maddow lay out the case that Mike Pence l...

I wrote yesterday about the pool.  I enjoy it but forgot how much work they can be.  Bugs are drowning themselves.  The pool is already dirty.  I have to find a leak. Welcome to summer. But that's not the bad part.  I like the pool.  I don't like alone.  And is my won't sometimes, I get tempted to do this or that about it.  Or memories of past summers bring up memories of things I am better served by not remembering. I've been kinda dealing with that lately. I love summer, barbecues, camping, swimming, picnics, an d a bunch of stuff like that.  I enjoy the pool but it's much more fun to have beers and enjoy it with friends or late night chunky dunkin' with that someone special. And now you know what I mean by stumbling block. The pool itself is a blessing.   But what I  do with that blessing is up to me. I would love to have someone to share it with but that's not in the cards today.  Soon, but not today.  And I cert...

Odd things happen to moi. The other day we studied a passage from the book of Exodus at our Wednesday Bible study.  That afternoon I saw a Facebook post with that very passage as the theme.   I also saw a Nene about one of Jesus' I AM statements.  That's the topic of our course of study four the next little bit. I am paying attention. I ran ahead of God a bit I think.  I bought a used pool.  It turned into an ordeal.  It's nice though and I am grateful to have it Wendi came up today to collect her mother and her tribe.  Those kids are a handful.  Sophia got mad because the other two children were helping me set up the pool after they had finished their cereal.  Breakfast was on the patio.  She smashed one of my good Pfaltzgraff dishes on the cement. A trip to Walmart for plastic bowls fixed that problem.  It was the start of a hectic day.  I have a pool with a ladder.  Getting there cost me $30 more than I had pl...

I am not spending father's day with my little people.  I do have a houseful of little ones today, though, that are not my little people, although they run around with my last name. They're Wendi's kids.  Yes, that  Wendi, and no, I don't understand it either, except that they're here and they're just kids that want desperately to be loved.  I so understand that, though. Anyway, my mom and her friend are coming for an early birthday BBQ so I have to make this quick, but I have a story to tell.  OK, two stories to tell because one is going to lead in to another. I have to buy a rim for my truck.  I needed tires and the shop I went to wouldn't mount a tire to one of the rims because the holes are wallered out.  Wallered is a word where I work.  I had forgotten how that happened.  Seven years ago, someone loosened the lug nuts on my front tire and the rim became damaged.  I have spent $600 in the last two weeks to get both cars registe...

God is good to me. So much has gone on lately, and it kinda feels like maybe things are turning a bit of a corner.  I hope so anyway. Today was a great day.  Yesterday wasn't bad either, except for the part where I hit my head on the side of the airplane's elevator, which tried to take the top off my head and literally dropped m to my knees.  It hurt.  I hate that little blind spot I have right there. Anyway, it feels like God and I have been growing deeper in our relationship lately.  I kinda got warned in April that things would get worse before they got better, but in that, I think it was God trying to help me trust Him.  Sometimes I have trust issues.  I think too, though, that God has been showing me that.  I say that because when I was speaking with him, I reminded him of this: "You know how I am." The reply:  "That's the point." God's little way of reminding me that He's trying to change the part about me that tends to worr...

Somebody needs this story today.  I don't know who you are or how you'll find these words, but I know it's not just about me telling a story.  Someone needs to know God shows up, and shows off! It's a simple story, really, and one that involves a nudging, being a bit lazy, and some circumstances that were not of my doing. Several months ago, I was given two twin beds.  I put one together in the sitting room I put together for my Who (a story I told you last year).  The other one was supposed to go in Miss June's room, which is cluttered top to bottom with a collection of her stuff and stuff her daughter abandoned during several moves over the last seven years that Miss June felt the need to rescue.  Several of the pieces of said bed are stacked up and being used as shelves (drawers and headboard) and the hardware for that bed is among the missing.  My mom needed a bed for her condo and I told her that she could have the one Miss June wasn't using as a...

So, I have me some internets again, and I decided to write a blog post yesterday, which apparently, wasn't one of my best efforts.  I read it again, and unless you were either at both places I was over the weekend, it read like a bunch of random thoughts from your drunk uncle. The point was good at the end.  How I got there, well, sorry about that.  I was tired.  I'm always tired lately.  I think the pain is starting to take a physical toll on me. At any rate, my point was that as weird as we find church, no matter the setting, the point isn't the atmosphere as much as it is about worshipping God.  Sometimes it involves theater.  Sometimes you just notice things that seem odd, but probably really don't matter.  And sometimes, the carpets and drapes clash. Such is life. I woke up today with other things on my mind.  I have been counting down the years to retirement and this morning, I found out that "Make America great again" wants to ...

I went to a little thingie yesterday at a church here in Ogden.  The sanctuary probably isn't the original sanctuary, there, and I was struck by something I hadn't been before. It was like being in a bar.  Except there wasn't any booze. There was a stage.  There were lights, colored lights, and a stage.  The drums were in a booth, I'm guessing, to keep them from drowning out the other instruments, and I dunno.  It was dark.  And it was weird to me for some reason. One of the ladies in the worship band was wearing a 60's style open shouldered jumper.  She had a sweater on, as well, but I thought it an odd choice for worship band attire. It was dark, presumably so the words to the songs could be seen and for the theatrics of the lights to be felt, and at first, the whole thing just seemed really weird to me. But who am I to judge?  We sang, we made a joyful noise to the Lord, and then the guy from Colorado got up and spoke.  And it as a...

According to Rasmussen Reports, 30% of Americans knew a murder victim.  I am among that 30% and I was reminded of that in an unusual way today. The other day, I was wondering when the trial for the alleged killer was going to take place.  And in the midst of that, something else during the week reminded me that God hadn't forgotten a promise to me that more and more, I'm understanding is real.  He, the way the reminder put it, has that promise on the FRONT of His mind all the time. Perhaps that's why this story unfolded the way it did.  There is more there than I understand about it, and sometimes writing helps me make sense of things. Wendi is from Richmond, Indiana, which is a small city located on the Indiana/Ohio border along Interstate 70.  It's so close, you can drive to New Paris, Ohio to buy beer on Sunday and be back at her dad's without even needing to buy ice to keep the beer cold. And so was Willie.  Willie has a last name which I forget...

Some days I know, and I mean I just know.   And there are days I think I know.  And then there are days when I know I wish I knew and sometimes I just quit trying to figure it out and go where God leads. And some days, they're all in one. My day yesterday kind of started out with a reminder of a promise I believe God for.  I hadn't forgotten it, but it was just kind of in the back of my mind and while I won't talk specifically about it, it's just a reminder that God hadn't forgotten. It's something I'm counting on Him for so something bigger can happen.  And I wrote it down someplace so I wouldn't forget what that promise was.  It was nine months ago, tomorrow, to the day, and I'm still waiting. And believing.   And knowing. But nine months.  When I heard the promise, and believe I got confirmation, I thought it would be days.  And then the days turned into weeks; the weeks into months, and still....... So did God make me a promise? ...

I don't believe anything happens by accident.  I do believe accidents happen, but usually they're caused by not paying attention or some other thing.  If I don't see the car in front of me stopping and hit it, it was an accident caused by not paying attention or following too close, etc.... So accidents have causes and sometimes we have little divine appointments that are arranged for us. I believe that, too.  I see it often in my own life but sometimes those divine appointments don't lead where I think they will. I read about that today.  A guy my roommate follows on Facebook is one who is same-sex attracted and has renounced that lifestyle for one of following God.  He's one that thinks, as do I, by the way, and most Christians, that those two things are mutually exclusive of each other.  He was talking in a post I saw how he thought his ministry would be to the LGBT community but God had other ideas. I think about that too.  I thought I woul...

Sometimes I wonder. Today's wonderment comes from yesterday's post and has to do with the crux of why I don't write as much as I used to about the things that go on in my life. Quite frankly, I wonder if I should. The two stories I told really happened.  I didn't make up, nor embellish a word of it.  If anything, I left a couple of the details out; things that happened that I figured were just better left between me and the Lord.  But I wonder in hindsight if it weren't better to leave the whole thing that way. God does some and allows some things in my life that I just don't understand and sometimes I'm torn between telling them and keeping them silent.  If all you read yesterday was some crazy story about a pizza then it was better left unsaid. If you, on the other hand, saw how God appoints a task, leads, or in my case, prods, you into doing that task; how when a door closes, God finds a way to open it again (for that you'll just have to tak...

I'm kind of hesitant to tell this week's stories.  OK, last  week's stories.  But sometimes the stories in my life write themselves, so here is just a bit of what happened last week. I used to have a collection of shot glasses that Wendi gave me when she came out here all those years ago.  I put them away at Christmas and take them out afterward, mostly just to take up space in the china hutch that runs along the wall of my dining room.  By wall, I mean about 20 feet of china hutch shelves.  It's a built in thing.  I was dusting them the other day and a thought popped into my head: "I really should get rid of these." I don't know why.  They're just there.  But the thought was there enough that I actually thought about putting them away in a closet. A few days later, a friend on Facebook who is a childhood friend of my sister, posted the oddest thing on said Facebook:  She was looking for some state shot glasses. Ask, and ye sha...

Sometimes, you see something and it just grabs you by the throat. Since January, that's happened to me twice.  Once was a Facebook post that reminded me that going back to the past would take me back to where I am already at, only it would take me a lot longer than it did the last time to get here. Hey, I'm already here and I know what here cost me.  I paid a lot to get here, both emotionally and financially.  So, I'm agreeing with God that here is where I belong.  I think though it was still wise to ask God about things because of what was going on.  And clearly, to me anyway, I'm headed in the right direction. I have a firm belief that God's word tells me He guides.  So I'm following as best as I can.  Warning heeded. The next one was something I saw last week was something from Tony Evans.  It was another warning and it turns out it was one for me to again heed: "Things may get worse before they get better." And they have. Last Sa...

So this really happened... We were installing doors on an airplane, which involves the compression of springs.  It's tough to do this by hand, but possible if you have strong hands. I don't.  But I understand that with some help from above, I can do this.  And I did, the first time.  Things matched up, the spring stayed compressed and we got the pin in the door in about a minute. My co-worker said "You must be living right." I stopped and thought for a split second about giving glory to where it belonged and chose to instead tell him that it wasn't that hard if you knew what you were doing.  I tried to take the glory for myself, and I'm telling you, the conviction was instant.  I corrected myself almost immediately, and told him, "Watch.  I won't be able to do this one because I tried to take the credit for myself." And I couldn't. The glory is not mine and I don't want it.  The glory for the things I do goes to God.  My tal...