Wednesday, September 30, 2009

The way I learn

The other week I was in a setting that I realized doesn't work for me. It had chairs, table, papers, and pens. You know, it was that dreaded classic school like setting. Ahhh!!!!!!! Seriously, it was not working for me. I just could not concentrate that well. Honestly, I was never the best student in the world.
Now with that being said, I feel like I have learned a lot. But I learn by sitting on a couch and talking to people. I learn by reading books. I learn by running and pondering thoughts in my head. I learn by doing. I learn by failing.
I think this should be true in a church setting as well. One form of learning might not work for everybody. We need to make sure we try every possible way to aid in learning.

Monday, September 28, 2009

I had to run

When I left this morning it was raining like crazy. I admit I wasn't thinking much about running, but remembered my running clothes anyways. Somehow it cleared up. Next thing I know it is cloudy, windy, no humidity, and pleasant. See ya, I'm out of here. There is no way I could ever pass up a day like today to go running. Wow! Incredible. I just could not help myself. I decided since it was so nice outside, it was time for a 5 mile run. Boy did that feel good. I am sitting here now and I can feel it just enough to know that I ran today.
I don't know when is the last time I enjoyed running that much. I was just a great day. After running, I was ready to face all the issues.
Now I understand if running is not your cup of tea. I get that. But to be outside today and enjoy God's creation, you can just not beat it!

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Way to go police

The G20 had most people in Pittsburgh worried about the protesters. With that being said, for the most part things were calm. On Friday we were eating at Primanti Brothers. Three police on motorcycles pulled up. When they did they all received an unexpected round of applause. I was proud of the people for thanking the officers. I was proud of the officers for keeping things under control during the G20. It was just a nice show of appreciation.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

People's priorities

I find it funny how well I can manage other people's lives and have a hard time with my own. Seriously, I think we all do good at knowing what other people should do. Now granted, we could be very wrong. We could not have any idea what we are talking about.

Now I have people who would like to tell me what I should be doing all the time. Telling me what my priorities should be and how I should spend my time.

Here is the point. None of those people's opinions matter. None of my "advice" matters either. We need to listen to God. We need to ask Him what our priorities should be. Ask Him how we should spend our time.

If you are doing that now, you can tell all those people to bug off!

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

The ups and down of the past two days

I have had a tough couple of days. The good news is that we have our occupancy permit for Blanchard House. To get that was crazy. It was a series of ups and downs. I had the inspector coming at 8:30 a.m. When he left, I had no idea if we passed or not. He had found some stuff that he had never found before and mentioned in his report. So I waited til after lunch to pick up the report. Turns out that I still had to get the fire chief to sign off on the whole deal. Then I walk over to the fire department, find the chief and he tells me he will be there in 30 minutes. No problem. He shows up, inspects the house for 13 minutes and I am done! The good news is we got the occupancy permit, and people can start moving in.
Of course today I had to find two refrigerators. Did that. Lined it up to pick them up this morning. Did that. Now somehow I got the two biggest refrigerators in the whole world (slight hyperbole). The worst part was getting the two refrigerators up to the 2nd and 3rd floor. That was a lot of work.
Lots of struggles, but it is done! Can't wait to see the lives changed because of all of this work.

Monday, September 21, 2009

Different Strokes for Different Folks

The guy who is doing our audit has been working at the Lighthouse the past 2 weeks. It is quite fascinating to me. I, by far, am not a detail person. Watching the guy work the figures. Making sure everything down to the penny is correct. Making sure that every number add correctly to the other numbers. Fascinating. Now I do not ever want his job. But I do appreciate someone who does enjoy their job.
Thank God for making us all different. Could you imagine if we all had the same personality, the same interests, the same skills? Wow would that be boring.
Now this guy is going to make sure that we are following all the procedures that we are supposed to follow. This is just as important as every other task we do at the Lighthouse.
Doesn't matter what you do, just do it all for God's glory!

Thursday, September 17, 2009

The most fun I ever had at a planning meeting

Tonight we were planning for an upcoming marriage seminar. We had 3 couples with a combined 171 years of marriage! Wow! So as we are planning this event, just listening to the stories were incredible. Honestly, most of the time if any meeting goes longer than one hour, I am not that happy. But tonight it was 2 hours of entertainment.
Seriously, I think this is going to be a blast. October 23 and 24th this marriage seminar is going to happen. I am sure that I will be blogging more about it in the near future. Really looking forward to it.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Productive Day

I had one today! I was so happy. Yesterday I felt like I got nothing done. I got so little done that I was annoyed. Then there is days like today. I think I did most things that were on the mental "to do list." Days like today make days like yesterday tolerable.
Now the important part is to remember days like today and forget days like yesterday. I want to know what you remember the most. Your worst day or your best day?
I will encourage you to remember the best days. Isn't that what Philippians 4:8 tells us?

Monday, September 14, 2009

Remembering 26.2

It was this day one year ago I did something crazy. I ran a marathon. What was I thinking? They ran the Erie Marathon on Sunday. I wanted to go and cheer for that guy who was at the back of the pack (just like I was), but could not make it up there yesterday. So a year later how do I feel about the whole experience? Proud! I am still not sure I will ever do another one. I mean I want compete in a marathon again, but I am just not willing at this point to put in the work to get ready for another one. However, I will not ever forget the experience.
So today I thought I would do a little commemoration of the 26.2. I ran 2.62 miles! 2.62 is a whole lot easier then 26.2!

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Having Fun

I still don't know what it means to be "mature." I have never quite understood that word. I think people use it incorrectly to mean boring. That is not part of maturity. With my kids, I get to play a lot. And guess what? I like to play. This evening we got to play on the new playground at North Park. I had a blast. Heather, who truly is mature, was having fun playing. Oh yeah, the kids liked it too.
What I am getting at is this. Enjoy life! You only have it once here on earth. Smile once in a while. Enjoy going down a slide or climbing up a wall. Honestly, I think when you are having fun and enjoying life here on earth, God is smiling up in Heaven.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Delays...

I will continue this post later....Just kidding.
Today was one of those days that I got slapped in the face with more delays. I do not like delays. I want everything now! But here I wait.
Now understand my heart here, the reason for the frustration is not to make me look good, or to add this program or that program. The frustration comes from knowing there are people out there who need help. And knowing that the things that are being delayed could help!
With all that being said, I choose to trust Christ. I choose to believe that He will do it in His time.
So I will go to bed tonight, wake up tomorrow morning, and resume the fight. No delay is going to stop the advance! CHARGE!

Monday, September 7, 2009

God Knows Grief

It is an odd concept to think of. But wrap your brain around it. God knows grief. He has been through grief. Many times. Think about it, Jesus, God's own son went through all that pain when He was on this earth. Not only that but, we are God's children. That is what the Bible tells us. So think about everything that God's children went through. That is everything you gone through times the number of people who have lived. Wow, that is a lot of grief
Now when my kids do something that I know they should not be doing, I feel bad. I grieve if you will. Now think about God, he has his kids doing stuff they should not be doing every day (or minute). Yeah that is a lot of grieving.
So when are thinking "I can't take all of this grief". It is at that moment you need to cry out to God and let Him comfort us.

Dan, where have you been?

I know, I have been a bad blogger lately. You all probably have been wondering what has happened. I will tell you. It is Blanchard House. We are at the final stages of being able to move back in. Which means that I have been pushing and pushing. I have been trying to do whatever it takes to get it done. I have to admit, I was sore and tired after last week. Lord willing, we will be moved in this week. I sure hope so. It has been going on for long enough, in my opinion. So sorry about not blogging last week. That is what I was doing.