Frustrated people

A lot of people who end up calling us are totally frustrated. If we stop for a couple of minutes, listen to their story, you quickly understand why they are so frustrated. You realize, that they are not being mean to you. They are not trying to be rude. They are just so frustrated. Once you realize that, life becomes so much easier. Someone calls you and get rude, it is OK, they are frustrated. I had a guy call me every 15 minutes starting at 6:30. Yes that is 6:30 in the morning. So when I talked to him, he was apologizing for calling so often. I realized he was just nervous, frustrated, excited. I was not annoyed or anything like that. I felt bad for the guy. It just changes your perspective when you realize, they are just frustrated.

How do I measure success

Investing your heart into people's lives is tough to say the least. Fortunately, I do work with a dedicated staff that is willing to invest their hearts. So I often wonder if we are successful. You look at some of the poeple who we have invested our hearts into, and they are still making bad choices. Man that is frustrating.
Here is the thing that I have to remind myself of often: Our job is to invest our hearts and give them God's love and tell them about God's plan for their lives. If we do that, we are successful. Our success is determined by the input, not the outcome.
I will continue to be hurt and frustrated by people's choices. But I will continue to invest my heart.

Rest is good

This past several weeks have been jammed pack. I am not complaining or anything like that. I have been having a blast, getting thing accomplished, and having a bunch of great opportunities. With all of that being said, I was one tired boy. This weekend is just what I needed. Relaxing. I got to play with my kids, take a nap, slept in to 8:00 this morning (yes that is sleeping in), mowed the grass...just simple stuff like that. Boy do I feel much better. I feel rested and ready to go. Amazing, we could look for all these great medical treatments. We could try some major new diet. We could try some other methods. Or we could just rest for a weekend. Life is good!

Trying to discipline your kid

A conversation from tonight:

Heather to Sam: Was that a smart choice?
Sam to Heather: No
Heather to Sam: Why don't you use your brain?
Sam to Heather: I don't have a brain

Seriously? I am not suppose to laugh at that? How do you correct you kid at that point? How do you keep a straight face.

Well needless to say, I laughed!

The support we get

After the news broke about the break in at Wheel of Work, I am amazed at the support of the community. I can not tell you that number of "I am so sorry" or "That is a shame" or "We are praying for you" I have received in the last couple of days have been great. Now back in 2008 when the Blanchard House caught on fire, it was much the same response. I almost think that it is God reminding me that we have the full support of the community. It is pretty nice to wake up, get a shower, drive to work and realize you have that many people praying for you. In the midst of this hardship, I feel energized!

The friends that I have met

The other day I realized something. I have some amazing friends. Honestly, I was thinking about all the great people that I have go to know in my life. It is incredible. These are people who are serving God with all their heart all around the world. Now, I will admit, I do not always get to talk to all my friends. But when we do catch up, we just pick up on our previous conversation. I feel honored to have all of these friends. By the way if you know me and are reading this, you are one of those friends I am talking about.

Try and then try harder

I was on a nice run the other day with a couple of friends. These are the type of guys that think a lot like I do. So it is really fun to hang out with them. Plus they love running as much if not more as I do. Anyways, as we are running along, one of them was quoting the other one:

"Try as hard as you can to help the person. When they don't listen, try harder"

Love it. For some reason in my messed up mind that makes so much sense to me. I really do not like the attitude "well I tried, thier fault." I know that is true. I know you tried. But thankfully God does not give us that attitude. God does not quit on us. When you think about the number of times God has tried to help you, but you failed to listen. But what did God do? He kept trying.

Seeing my son achieve something great

This past weekend, when we were in Ohio, we were at a house with a pond. In the pond was a bunch of fish. Now there were a couple of people fishing. Isaiah decided that it looks like fun. So somehow he asked the one guy if he could try. Fortunately the guy was real patient and taught Isaiah how to cast his line. I was watching Isaiah cast his line. Every time he did, I thought for sure that someone was going to get a hook in themselves. I was about 50 yards away and I looked over at Isaiah and his line was really tight. I am thinking to myself, "could he have caught a fish?" So I go running down to the water and sure enough he did! Wow!

Now the catching the fish is cool and everything. But the part that I loved was the look on his face. He was so proud and so excited. Seeing that in my son's eye was great. Knowing his determination just to cast the line out and then being able to catch that fish. He was darn near speechless. But then after that speechless part wore off, he was telling everyone. I loved seeing that look of accomplishment on his face!

Getting there

I have been devoting large quantities of time to a project lately. This week has been one of those weeks where you get good news followed by bad news. Good news, then bad news. I wish everything would just fall in place. I wish that it would just be a simple process. But I will not quit. I will not give up. I will not stop until I am certain that all door is not just shut, but gone. I think that there are unfortunately a lot of people who give up at the first moment of difficulty. Man, everything in my life that I am proud of, took a lot of work and lot of obstacles to go over. I am sure I am not the only one who would say that. With that being said, I am writing all of this for you. I am writing all of this to encourage you to keep going. Not to give up. Not to quit. But to see whatever it is that you are going through to the finish. Keep going. You will get there.

People are praying for us

Today I was at a church picking up a van seat for a van they recently donated to us. Well I was there I had to go the bathroom. I passed a room labeled "prayer room." Now that always catches my attention. So I go in this room and there is a white board with a bunch of prayer request on it. I looked at it real quick and saw "The Lighthouse" on the board. Wow! I was touched. My friends at Hampton Presbyterian are praying for us!
Now I know there are people and churches praying for us. I really feel like the most bless person in the world sometimes. But seeing it in writing; it just makes me thankful. What an incredible feeling to know that people are praying for us!

Mud Sliding

No, I do not have any pictures of me mud sliding. Sorry to ruin your opportunity to laugh at me. On Friday it was raining pretty hard at Edinboro. For some reason when this happens the water just sits on top of the grass. When this happens there is only one thing to do. That is to go mud sliding. It was fun. I have not got to do that in about 10 years or so. So while I was doing thing, I was remembering back to "when I was a kid." It was so much fun. Three days later, I am still a little sore. But man it was fun!

Edinboro 2010

Yesterday I got home from Edinboro Camp. I love that place. This year I had the privilege to direct the 12 and 13 year olds. I know this is going to sound like a typical parent, but I could see these kids grow up in the span of one week. For me, I just do not get sick of seeing 50 kids getting to know God for the first time or getting to know God better. It is just so much fun to be able to spend a week with some great kids. Yes it was hot! Very hot! But this is the great thing, these kids didn't care. They kept on playing and running around. The only thing we had to do is to make sure they had enough water, not a big deal at all. Just so much fun! Honestly, I do think that everyone should give up a week and serve at Edinboro, or any other camp. Yes I am physically tired, but I am recharged and ready to go!

Edinboro Time

Once again I get to make my annual pilgrimage to Edinboro Camp. I really wish I could be there for more then just this one week. But, it is just not possible. Edinboro Camp has had a huge impact on my life for years. I know for the past 50 some years there has been people who have gone there to get closer to Christ. I know for the past 50 years that has happened. It is an honor and a privilege to be able to serve there yet again. I look forward to seeing God working in these 12 and 13 years old kids. It will be amazing. Hopefully I am smart enough to get to bed at night. Sleep is essential. So I probably wont blog that much next week. But please be praying for me. Thank You!

Error on grace

There is great tension between law and grace. Now I believe rules are good. I believe they keep us straight. But if we are going to have to make a choice, choose grace. Choose to error on the side of grace. I think about what Christ did for us. He certainly choose grace. We did not do anything to deserve it. Therefore, we should choose grace. It is just so much more enjoyable. And it always reminds me of what Christ did for me. I like that little reminder!

Vacation

Last week you might have noticed that I did not blog. That is because I was on vacation! It was great. We barely had cell phone reception. Had no TV. Had no Internet access. It was great! Yes, I mean great.
Someone asked me today if my vacation was relaxing. Yes it was relaxing. But, it was not restful. There is no way you can have a restful vacation with a 2.5 and a 5 year old boy. They just have so much energy and you have the whole week to play with them.
It was great to get away. Someday, I am going to figure out how to take a whole month straight. But until then...any vacation is a good vacation!

Am I still dreaming?

Am I still dreaming? That is a question I often ask myself. I ask myself that question a couple of times a day. It is one of the questions that keep me going. It is one of the questions that is an instant gut check. Fortunately, lately, the answer has been a resounding yes! I have a lot of dreams lately! Good God dreams! So that has got me excited! I have a lot of plans that get me excited. It is so good to be able to work at a place that allows me to dream. Allows me the freedom to explore different avenues. So right now, yeah it is exciting. Now with that being said, next week is vacation week! Well I have been dreaming, I am looking forward to a little rest. That makes me even dream more!

A new design

It was time for a new look for my blog. I was just bored of the old one. So I realize that blogger has made their layout options so much better then they used to be. So I thought I would give it a try. Wow is it fun. And then they added the "reaction" thing at the bottom of the post. Hopefully you will all now respond more, it is only one click :) Hope you all enjoy!

My shower addiction

One of those things that I don't mention that often, is that I take a lot of showers. When it is hot outside, I get all sweaty. The only thing you can do then is get a shower. Now I know some people are worse then me. The last three days I think I have taken 7 showers. I just feel so much better after a shower.
It was one of those hidden secrets, I thought I should share.

Excited about tommorow

This will sound weird, but tomorrow I get to work on filling out a bunch of paper work and I am looking forward to it! Hopefully, tomorrow will be the beginning of the filling out the new paper work in order to get a long over due project going. Honestly, it is not the paperwork, it is the fact that we are moving forward. It is not just to get the project done, it is to be able to help more people. I will admit it, I am excited about the process!

My laptop lives again

Now I think I might have blog about this before. But it happened to me again. The other day my boys were goofing off and trip over my cord for my laptop causing it to break. Argh. So I went on Amazon and ordered another one. For some reason once again, I did not look that closely at the description. It turns out that some of the Toshiba a135 have one type of plug and the others have another type of plug. So I had to order yet another one. This time I made double sure that it was the right one. Plugged it in and it work! Boy, does it feel nice to have my laptop back!

Praying for my staff

One of the most important things that I can do is to pray for my staff constantly. Maybe it is because I spend a lot of time with them. But it seems my staff is under attack on a consistent basis. This past couple of weeks we have had a stomach virus, appendix removal, and open heart surgery, and a bunch of other things too. That is just the physical side. I can not begin to tell you the spiritual attacks that my staff faces. Therefore, I pray for them. I pray for them often. I don't do this to make myself look good. I do this out of necessity. I do this because I have to. I ask you for this favor: Please join me in praying for the staff at the Lighthouse. Thanks!

Leaves leaves leaves

In the fall, I rented this massive leaf blower (Photo courtesy of my wife) . I mean this thing was huge. So I blew all the leaves in the woods and thought, there I fixed it (which by the way if you ever want a funny website to look at: thereifixedit.com). Well, the last two times it rained, those leaves created some problems. They have caused the rain water to reroute attempting to wash out my driveway. So for the second time in less than a week, I was out there digging out the leaves so the water would go where it was suppose to. Now with all that being said, my grass looks really good because it did not have the leaves there all winter. I guess the moral of the story is to make enough money that you can hire a landscaper and a maintenance person so you don't have to do it yourself? Just having fun tonight!

More mowing problems

Once again, the mowing problems continued. I had just got a working mower on Tuesday. Unfortunately it was raining on Tuesday and then again on Wednesday. So when it was nice today, I just had to mow. It started right up! I engaged the blades, they were spinning. I was off and mowing. I had to go slow because of how tall the grass was, but that was OK, I was mowing! I got about 3/4 of the way done. Then the blades stopped spinning. Oh no! The mower is broke again.
Tomorrow I will try and get it fixed again. So we shall see.
I wonder if this is how God feels when we keep screwing up over and over again?

What are three words that can get you anything and everything?

While we were eating supper today, my boys answered that question. The question is what three words can get you anything and everything? Now let me be honest with you, I was not looking for the answer. In fact, I did not even know the question. But the answer was loud and clear then the questioned followed.
Sam just could not get enough noodles. So he kept asking for me. However, what he said was a lesson for all of us. "Me more noodles please? Thank you." Now come on, of course he got more noodles.
Such a simple lesson. Saying please and thank you will get you just about anything you want. So with that in mind, lets makes those three words the most over used words.

Accepting purpose

Today a friend of mine and myself had the opportunity to meet with some one who basically lost all purpose of living. Now this guy I honestly feel knew the Lord. I think he truly did. But he was at such a low point in his life that he was ready to die. We talked with him for a while. I think what he was failing to realize is something we often forget to realize. What he was failing to realize is that God was not finished with him yet. If we are still here on this Earth, God still has plan for our life. We talked to this guy. Listen to what he was saying. Got him a turkey sub. Drove with him to his old house. Spent about 2 hours with him today. I hope by spending the time and saying what we did, that he will find his purpose. That he will find that God is not finished with him. I pray and hope that he will receive the healing that he needs.
At the same time, I am grateful to be used by God to talk to one of His creations in a time of need.

50 Years and going strong

Every year at district conference we recognize certain anniversaries in the ministry. We have 15 years, 25 years, 50 years, and retirement. The 15 and 25 year guys I think "good job guys, keep up the good work." But when I see the 50 year guys, I am in awe. I look at those men and are amazed. Some of them, I know and have spent time with them. To think about serving God for 50+ years is just amazing. Now what that does for me is it makes me want to keep going. It encourages me to see the men who came before me and to continue the work that they started. The one thing I wish we did (maybe I will suggest it) is to gives those 50 year guys an opportunity to share wit the rest of us five minutes of wisdom. I would love to hear what they had to say. I have been an official worker with the Christian and Missionary Alliance since 2000. Wonder what it will be like in 2050?

What I needed today

Today was one of those days that just didn't go the way they I wanted it to go. I am sure you all have had days like that. There was a lot of things that I wanted to get done. A lot of questions that I wanted answered. And none of that happened today. Just one of those arghish days.
But (and this is one of those good buts) tonight we had worship team practice. This was just what I needed. I got to play my bass. I got to focus my thoughts on God. That is where my heart and thoughts should have been all day. That is what I needed today!

Single Minded Focus

One of the things that I like to see in people is a single minded focus. There are some people who are able to whatever it takes in order to accomplish there goal. Now, if this goal is a good goal, then this is a sight to behold. They will stop at nothing to reach that goal. They will not take no for an answer. Now there come a point when enough is enough and you need to back off. But the problem is that there are a lot of good plans, good dreams, that will never become reality because people gave up after the first close door.
If one door is closed, check the next one and the next one and the next one. Now if this is truly a God given dream that you are pursuing, if you can not find an open door, make a door. That is being single minded focused.

Remembering a great person

I received the news today that a great person has gone on to be with the Lord. This was one of the most Godly ladies I have ever met. I enjoyed the time that we got to talk. I appreciate the years that she prayed for me. When I was struggling with my ordination, she was praying like crazy for me. I will never forget the time I got to spend with her. From the conversations that we had, I know exactly where she it. She is in heaven!
If you would have known this lady, you would know that she had great life long ministry. Honestly, It is something to look up to. I hope I can have that long lasting solid ministry.

My supportive wife

I have realized that almost anything (except maybe consuming large quantities garlic) that I want to do, Heather will support me. You don't know how nice that is to have her there for me in whatever I want to do. She always is encouraging me. I will come home with a wild crazy thought or idea and my wife rather then look at me like I have two heads will tell me "go for it." I am so thankful for that support.
I guess that is the way God designed marriage. I am just so thankful that I have Heather.

Hanging with Isaiah

Tonight I got to hang with my oldest son. We had the opportunity to go see Annie. Heather has been working really hard getting the musical ready. Tonight we got to see the hard work pay off. I have to say that the kids in the musical did a great job. They all should be happy with their efforts.
But what was fun for me was getting to watch the musical through the eyes of a four year old. Wow, that was so fun. He was so good the entire time. You could tell he was in to it. That was really fun to me. I love hanging with my kids.

Date morning?

Heather and I both have had crazy schedules lately. It is has been hard to know who needs to be where and when. Now I understand that this will probably get worse when our kids get older and have to be a different places at different times. But lately, it has seemed crazy.

The kids were at my parents house last night. So we realized that this morning we had a small window that we could go on a breakfast date. Now understand, Heather is not exactly a morning person. But we got up and went on a breakfast date. I think this is our second breakfast date in 10 years. But it was nice to be able to talk to each other and catch up with each other.

We help people who have names

I have been to various training were they always talking about helping the "client" or "consumer." I have been in meetings where they talked about people basically being a number. I have heard people refer to people they are trying to help as "them".
It may surprise you but "clients, consumers, and them" do have names. Just like me and you have names. They are real people.
I know that sounds obvious, but it has to do with the how we treat people. When we start calling people by there names, it becomes personal. When it becomes personal, then we will stop at nothing to help someone. I would like to be at the point. Think about it, what did Jesus stop at to help us? He gave his life for us. Yeah, that is a good point to be at.

Who doesn't deserve a second chance?

I ask myself that question often. Honestly, I never can find someone who doesn't. But that is not because of who they are. It matter who God is. We of course have done nothing to deserve a second chance. But yet how many second chances has God given you? So if God is willing to give us a second chance, shouldn't we be willing to give people a second chance.

I do not see how a person could make it through this life without believing that people are capable of change. It would be so depressing. Wow to live under that doom and gloom of people never being able to change. That would stink.

So I will continue to choose that people can change. And because I honestly believe they can, I will continue to give them a second chance.

Our great get a way

On Thursday we left for a vacation. Just the four of us. I loved being with my family. We all needed this. I have to admit, now that Sam is sleeping in a normal bed and is 99% potty trained life is good. It is getting more and more fun.
The kids were troopers. Isaiah just kept going and going and going. I was really proud of him. Sam did pretty good too. I am just looking forward to spending more vacations with my family!

It does take the whole community

These last couple of days that the Lighthouse have been incredible. I have watched the Numbers of people that have come together just to be able to help their neighbors out. One of the stranger moments was on Monday. I was eating lunch in the kitchen with about 9 other people. Now normally that would not be odd. But we were closed on Monday. I asked everyone why are they here? Their response, "Why are you here?" Today we had the new freezer arrive. Again that whole freezer deal is amazing in and of itself. We had probably 7 tons of food delivered today. I can not tell you how many phone calls where answered and returned. Wow, it was crazy and amazing at the same time! I feel honored to be able to serve with a group of volunteers and staff that will stop at nothing to help people!

The new freezer

We are in the process of getting a new freezer at the Lighthouse. This freezer will be twice the size of our big freezer. Wow that is amazing huh? Now in order to get this we had to do a couple of things. Things such as leveling out the area. Thank you Rob Hicks and Matthews Excavating this was done. Then we had to get some (or 23 ton) stone on the area. Today we had the concrete pads delivered and place. A huge shout out to Hampton Concrete Products. Tomorrow the guys are delivering the new freezer. We have an electrician, Andy Brown, who is going to hook it up. Wow! All of this for one freezer! I have to admit this is an incredible deal. This is about a $22,000 project that will cost less then $1,000. Now that is some good leveraging.

God Confidence

Sometimes I appear to be amazingly self-confident. I wish I could say that is true, but I question myself all the time. But there is a confidence that I have that generally I have all the time. The confidence in God. God confidence if you will. This gives me the freedom to try and possibility fail at just about anything. This gives me the confidence to know that no matter what happen, I still have God.
Now this God confidence is something that comes only from that relationship with Christ. I deal with people everyday who lack that God confidence. I often wonder what they could be if they had that God confidence. I wish I could show them what they could have.
So I depend on God. I rely on God. I tell people about my love for God. I pray and hope, that others will have that God confidence.

No, I am not a machine

I realize that I have a lot of blogs about a great run. About how good it felt. Well today I am going to do something different. I am going to tell you about my run today. It did not feel good. It was not how good it was. Honestly, I had nothing. It did not feel great. I am glad that I did it though. Hopefully tomorrow, I will run again and it will feel great!
Just felt like I needed to blog about a run with a bad ending.

Our job and God's job

This is one of those times that I need to remind myself of something. It is our job to plant the seeds. It is God's job to grow them. I sometimes wish it was not that simple. I wish that there was a way to make sure that seed grows. I wish that I could be the one to make it grow. It is not that I want to be God or anything like that. It just pains me to invest so much time and energy into a persons life and see them throw it away. I wish I could say that this happened only once to me. Or that this will not happen again. Or that this is a "first." Sadly it is not and will not be the last time.
Then I think about God. Boy, He sees his creation screw up time and time again. He invested his time and energy in our lives, and we rejected Him. That would stink huh?
Investing time and energy into people lives does not always turn out the way we would want. I know that can hurt. I know that can be discouraging. But fortunately, our job is to invest in people lives. What they do with it, well, that is God's job.

Bristol Weekend

Honestly, I feel bad that the pictures could not show the magnitude of the weekend. It was huge. Wow. What fun! Hope you enjoy the pictures:

The boys loved the free stuff I brought home for them. (I loved the price)

Bristol Bond

That's right folks. I am off to Bristol! I have wanted to go to a Nascar race for a long time. I have wanted to go to a race at Bristol for a long time. This weekend I am going to do both. I am going to the Nascar race at Bristol. I know I don't seem like that typical Nascar fan. That is OK. I am going to have a blast. It is going to be legendary!

Spending the 99.9% on the 99.9%

When you are helping people, you always are risking the chance of helping someone who is going to take advantage of you. People who are going to cheat "the system." No matter what type of safe guard you have in place, people will find a way to get around them.
Now understand something here, it 0.1% of the people cheating, of the people taking advantage. The rest of the 99.9% need help. So what I want you to do is to spend 99.9% of your time on the 99.9%. Don't let that 0.1% waste all your time. Don't let the 0.1% stop you from helping the 99.9%
In the USA we work bout 2000 hours a year. That means you can spend 2 hours a year worrying about that 0.1% of the people. That includes the time you are mad at them, the time that you are worried about setting up your "fail proof" systems, and the time that you spend trying to recover your loses. Not two hours a day, not two hours a week, not two hours a month, two hours a year.
Spend your time focused on those who need help!

The 10 year rule

(Note to self: Yes Dan, I am reminding you of this)
The 10 year rule may have been developed by my dad. At least he is the one who taught me about it. The 10 year rule is a simple one to understand, but so hard to follow through. The 10 year rule is this: It takes 10 years to see the results of the effort you have poured into a persons life. That sounds crazy doesn't it? 10 years! 10 years is a long time. But to see those results that you want, 10 years man. I wish that results came a lot quicker. I wish that it did not take 10 years. But hang in there, hang in there for 10 years, and maybe then you will see the results you desire.

How we treat people

I was driving down route 8 the other day. Something that I have done way too many times. Therefore I often start thinking about everything else. So let me share some of my thoughts

1. God matters
2. People matter to God
3. How we treat people matters to God

When I thought through those points, It just made everything so clear. God cares about how we treat people.

Boy night

Tonight, Heather had a meeting to go to. That means that I got to stay home with the boys. When it is just the boys, it is play time. We spent an hour running around the house chasing a ball and tackling each other. You know, the type of fun that boys have with their dad when mommy is not home. It was just so much fun. What was even better, the boys then cleaned up really nice and took a bath with no problem. It is night like this that make up for all the other nights. It was great fun. I love the fact that my boys are getting older so we can play boy like games. I am looking forward to many more boy nights! This is one of those times where I might be blogging for myself. But for all of you with boys out there, it is boys night!

Good bye Olympics

I am sitting here watching the closing ceremonies for the Olympics. I am going to miss them. I love the pure athletic competition. I will admit I love the cheesy life stories. The stories of those athletes who have overcome so much just to be there. I love to see the reaction of the face on those winners when something they have trained for all their life is now coming true. I wish however, they would show more of those people who did not finish first. I am talking about the athletes who just finished. I realize that the network coverage wants to show all the events and there is just not time to show the "also ran" athletes. I get that. I know we all talk about how the Olympics are overly commercialized. Hey it is expensive to do what they do, so if commercials pay for the expenses, good for them. The athletes are still just trying to their best. So I leave these past two weeks with fond memories. The worst part about the whole deal: Now I will once again have to worry about what to watch on TV at night, bummer.

The dryer woes continue

I thought I would be blogging about my dryer finally being fixed. But no such luck. We bought the dryer about a year ago. Fortunately it broke about a week before the warranty was over. So we had a guy come out. He looked at it and realized it was the heater coil. Well it has taken about a month to get the heater coil delivered to us. It finally got here on Saturday and we called the company to come back out and put it in. Well that was today. The guy shows up, puts the machine together, and everything seems good. But just when it all looked good, we realized (of course after the repair guy is gone) that the dryer is not spinning. So here we go again. It had better not take another month!

The Olympics and my laptop...good combo

I love these two weeks with the Olympics on TV. It makes my decision as far as what to watch real easy. I watch the Olympics! I love the Olympics. Now I will admit, there is times when the event is boring and I don't watch that close. Like right now as Ice dancing in on. Not a big fan of ice dancing. During those times, I just play on my laptop a little more. All and all, fun times.

If you can't beat them, join them

I don't know why but tonight my boys were just complaining about everything. Isaiah got to the point that he was crying at everything I said. One time I asked him, "Are you crying because mommy told you not to put that toy in your mouth?" I think he realized how ridiculous that was. But still he kept on crying about everything. I had enough. It was get annoying. So I did the mature good parent technique. I cried about everything too. It was funny to see Isaiah look at me thinking I was crazy. After about 2 minutes we were all laughing about every thing that would happen. If you can't beat them, join them.

Oops, not quite the way I wanted that to happen

My parents have been away on vacation since last Tuesday. Being the oh so responsible son, I remembered today that I am suppose be making sure the house is ok and stuff. Well I drive by the house at least twice a day. I have known for the past week that I need to shovel. But to be totally honest, I am sick of shoveling! But since they are coming home tomorrow, I thought I better start shoveling. I shoveled out a pretty big area. My next trick was to move my mom's car. That is where things went wrong. I was trying to get it out of the driveway when all the sudden it was no longer quiet. I must have bumped something on the exhaust because wow, was it ever loud. About 30 seconds later I get it out in the road, only to realize there was another car coming. At this point I start heading back into the driveway. The first car stopped with no problem. The second car, again not problem. The third car, well that is a different story. Oops. I guess I caused that accident.

Saying it all in 60 seconds

Today, I got to witness something amazing. I got to see a teenager make the most effective, succinct testimony about who God is and what he has done in his life. I really wish I had this recorded. I really wish I had a video. It was straight forward and to the point. I have sat through hour long sermons that said less then he did in about 60 seconds. This was all done in a packed room of 140 family and friends. He did not hold back, he did not mix words. What he said was so powerful and so good. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention one other factor, this was at his Dad's memorial service. Wow!

Believing in people

There is something that I want to make sure that I do with my boys. That is believe in them. Believe that they can do it. Believe that if they put the effort in it they can accomplish the task. Believe that they are capable.

I want my kids to know that they can give it a shot. I want them to know that I believe they can do it. I want my kids not to be thinking about "what if I don't" but rather thinking about "what I have to do to do this"

Success is trying. Success is attempting to do something. Success is giving it your all.

When I started to train for my marathon, I admit I had many moments of "I will never be able to do this." Guess what my wife told me? She told me that she believed in me. She told me that I could do it. And you know what? I am happy to say, she was right!

There are far too many people in this world that tell you what you can't do. Tell you why you will never be able to do something. Tell you that it will never work out. Why be like that? What good does that do? How does that help someone? What if rather then telling people what they can't do, you switched to "go for it!"

I dream of the day after a cross country meet (okay, it doesn't have to be cross country) me an my son, Isaiah or Sam, are sitting there eating an apple, and had finished 2nd, and he says to me "you know what, I need to work harder on my hills, I lost a lot of time on the hills, I was faster on the hills, I could make up that time I lost." At that point I would have a choice. I could say "well son, maybe your just not fast enough" or I could say "Go for it, do it with all your heart!"

Now you are sitting there and saying what would happen if he never beat the other person and never finished better then 2nd? My answer: Who cares! He gave his best! Did he fail? No!

Be a you can person! Believe in people!

Shovel shovel and more shoveling

Yes that is all I have done in the past couple of days. I shoveled for about 8 hours on Saturday and probably 4 more on Sunday. Monday was another 4 or 5 hours of shoveling. Yes my back is sore. And yes it is snowing right now, which means more shoveling soon. Argh. So how is this the beginning of something legendary? Well one of two ways. Maybe all this training will help me capture the world cup of professional snow shoveling. Or I will teach my 4 year old son to shovel snow. So in case you wonder what I have been up to, it is shoveling!

A bit of holy discontent

Today I was(am) having one of those days were I am just wishing I could do more. It make me upset when I can not solve the worlds problems. I know, I am exaggerating, but the point is this, I want to be able to help more. So fortunately I was able to go for a run today (don't worry this relates). When I run my brain thinks more clearly. So later on today I had a thought (my one of the day). I started coming up with a plan that will allow me to be able to help a lot of more people by helping people. I hopefully will be able to put on paper what I am thinking real soon. Pitch the idea to a couple of people for funding, and then be able to start. So sometimes a little bit of holy discontent is a real good thing!

My hand is going to fall off

One of the task that I get to do once a year is sign the year end receipts at the Lighthouse. Basically what that entails is signing 954 letters and writing something simple on each of them. Now many people will say "Why don't you get a stamp" or they will ask "do you really need to sign all of them?" My answer is yes I do have to sign them. It is a humbling experience. You see all the people who make it possible to do what we do. Make you really appreciate the support from the community. So while my hand is about to fall off, I am thankful for it.

Good business practices

This morning I was driving to work and had the overwhelming desire for a Boldy's Bakery peanut butter doughnut. So I went to Boldy's Bakery ask if I could use my card since I did not have any cash on me. The lady told me that they do not take cards. I said thanks and was going to walk out. She then told me that she would allow me to buy the doughnuts and coffee now as long as I would come back later and pay. I said "really?" So I got my food. Said thank you and went to the bank and drove right back. She said "I didn't think you would be back that quick." Now personally I hate owing money so it is better just to take care of it. However due to her willingness to let me "pay her later," I will be back. That is just good business practices. Other places would do well to follow Boldy's Bakery lead.

Why my wife is the greatest...reason number 123041

Today when I got home from work, I smelled something cooking. It smelled good. But I did not ask what it was. We got everything set for dinner and then Heather asked me to take the food out of the oven. So I did. I looked at it. For a while actually. I realized that somehow my wife was able to take everything that we had in the refrigerator and put it all together and called it supper. Now before you go thinking anything let me tell you the truth: It was delicious. I ate more then my fair share of it.
I love that about my wife. She does not like to waste food. She likes to make the best of what we have. She is thrifty and I love her for that. Clearly my wife is the greatest.

The attack of the squirrel

Heather had just left for a hair appointment. That left the three boys home alone to play. To tell you the truth I was looking forward to the time with my boys. About five minutes into our play time, we heard a noise. We looked over and there, running as fast as it could, was a squirrel inside our house! The poor frightened creature was trying to go out the window which was closed. My boys started getting scared. I wanted to join them but knew I had to protect them. So I quickly shoved the kids in the TV room and closed the door. I ran and got my shoes on and grabbed a broom. I left the kitchen door open to try and convince the squirrel to go out. I then looked at our front door (which we never use) and decided to open it too. At this point I noticed the squirrel in the corner and I tried to encourage the little guy to get out of my house. He wasn't too smart. He crawled under our foot rest. I then stuck the broom under the foot rest and got him out of the foot rest. Next thing you know he goes under the couch. Now our couch believe or not is heavy. I needed help. So I called my dad and asked where he was. Fortunately he was at his house. I say come over now, I need to evict a squirrel. He shows up in two minutes. We then devised a plan. We picked up the couch and the squirrel went back in the corner. I shoved the broom at him and he ran out the door. We quickly closed the door. Squirrel is gone! Unfortunately, then I had to clean up the mess from the squirrel and put everything back. So I guess if you ever find a squirrel in your house and you need an experienced squirrel remover, just give me a call.

My Amazing Son

This is one of those things that only a dad could be proud of. My little two year old has one of the most revered male talents. The ability to pass gas whenever he wants to. And in typical boy only fashion, he proceeds to laugh his head off every time he does it. I know you are reading this and thinking, gross. And well that is true, I have to admit, I'm proud of the little guy. So by now I know I will get one of two comments. All the females out there will respond with something like "gross" or "TMI" or something to the effect. Now all the males out their will respond with "awesome" or "go Sam" or something to that effect. Sam, you the man!

My not so little boy anymore

As I type this, my not so little boy anymore is sleeping in his big boy bed. Correction his Elmo bed. Granted it is only an Elmo bed because we put Elmo sheets on it. He did not like us calling it his big boy bed. But he settled right down in his "Elmo" bed. I thought it was so cute seeing that little guy in the big bed. It is amazing! We left the crib in the room tonight, just in case he was having a hard time with the bed, we could switch him back to the crib. But so far (granted it has only been 45 minutes) I have not heard any noise from his room. What a big boy!

Who needs help

I think we all would like to sit here and think that we are in a place in our life where we help people rather then receive help. That we have overcome all our problems. That we are now in a place where we can do it ourselves. Unfortunately those things are just not true. The reality is all of us our in a place where we need help and can help. I think it is one of the most amazing and over looked aspects of God creation. He knew that we could not exist on our own. He knew that we needed each other. Just another thing that amazes me about God. How He planned and provided for all our needs. That he gave us each other for each other.
So as you sit there thinking I have to help everyone, realize that you need help to. Realize that you are not any better then they are. Realize that we all need help.

My laptop...it works...again!

For some reason, my laptop stopped working last week. Did not make me too happy. It would just not turn on. So I start wondering if it is the new power supply or if it is just time for a new one. I am not really in the mood to buy a new one. I can't believe that it is the power supply. So after church today, I gave it to my brother. He asked me what was wrong with it. I told him. In 3 minutes he had it up and running! I love my brother! I can't tell you how many times he has bailed me out. Thanks Phil!

Sallow

My loving wife has just told me I look sallow. I am not quite sure what she means by it. So I looked it up. Here is the definition: of a sickly yellowish hue or complexion. Hmm...I am perplexed. I mean honestly, I have been fighting some sort of virus this week. So maybe I am not looking like the GQ model, but sallow? Sallow? Sickly yellowish hue? Boy that doesn't seem very nice huh? But hopefully I will not remain in this sallow condition for too much longer. After all I don't want to be sallowly and certainly don't want to live in a state of sallowness and really want to be sallowless.

Getting by with a lot of help from my friends

Today was one of those days were you wake up and say "There is no way I can do this!" I have not been feeling that great. So I do not have that much energy. I got a call yesterday from Home Depot telling me they had a bunch of stuff to be picked up. I had to get it. Did not know how I was going to do it. Somehow, it all worked out. The next thing I know is there are about 10 people helping unload everything. I can't tell you how thankful I am for the help. It never ceases to amaze me how God will just provide everything that we need.

I just wanted some air

Last night, after moving some things at church, I went to my car and looked at my tire. The tire was just not round. I had an air tank in my trunk. Did not have much air but it was enough to make it round again. So I thought that I would be smart and fill it up to make my morning a lot better. So I drove down the road to a gas station. Found the air compressor. It had a "Out of order" sign on it. Argh. So I went to another gas station. Put in 50 cents. It turned on, but no air came out. Argh. So I went to another gas station, "Out of order." Argh. So I went to another gas station. Tried to put the quarters in it, it was jammed! Argh. So finally I went to Sheetz, where the air is free. It worked! Finally.
I guess the moral of the story is, don't mess around, just go to Sheetz!