blowouts, delays and drunks, oh my...

so we had a fun night... as the case is with anything there was some adventure... keep in mind that this trip consisted of sidneys first train ride and NBA game... i think i saw sid go shy for the first time ever... as we were standing by the raptors entryway jose calderone came walking by and i urged sid to holler at him so i could get a picture with the two of them, but he clammed up... i have never seen that before and if you know or have met sid, you are surprised as well...

ADVENTURE #1:
sid and i were sitting in nearly the back row of the fleet center a very outspoken gentleman came up behind us and began slurring what sounded like explitives... then he grabbed sid's shoulders and said "i love this @#*%*#@ seat... go blankity blank celtics go!!! beat the blankity blank raptors!!!" so sid being sid started a conversation with him... i heard it said from someone that sid makes the world a better place and this was perhaps another example whether it was going to make a difference or not... long story short, the owners of the seat showed up and the gentlemen left with much grumbling, swinging and cussing...

ADVENTURE #2:
sid's poor raptors got blown out of the water... it was sad... they literally did not stand a chance... (2 best players were injured)

ADVENTURE #3:
on sid's first return train trip back to portland, we were informed that it was delayed by one half of an hour resulting in our 2.5 hour train ride leaving boston at 11:40 instead of 11:10... late night to say the least...


all in all i would say that it was a fun day despite the (mis)adventures that we had...

Thank you Lord for your protection as we travelled!!!

On life support, but still barely tickin'...

The title is basically where my blog is. It is not dead, but active it is not either. Apparently the only time I am willing to post is when I visit my mother's place in Maine. Perhaps more visit's are in order. This post will be very simple because I am very tired and need to go to bed now. So here goes my amazing nugget of wisdom. I am very excited because I have Sidney with me and tommorrow we will be going to watch the Boston Celtics play against the Toronto Raptors in Boston. Needless to say I am stoked eh. (Authentic surfer and Canadian slang all in one sentence.) I am pumped because the last time I saw an NBA game was in Harbour Station and there was not a lot of effort displayed since it was a preseason game. So officially this is my 1st real NBA game where people should actually be trying. I am also mostly pumped because Sid's fave team is the Raptors and this is his 1st NBA game. Exciting times, exciting times. If I can figure it out there should be pics to come soon. Be blessed ya'll!!!

It's Alive!!!!!

It is amazing, yet incredibly frustrating how one can fight the same battles over a long period of time and often never feel like there has been any progress made. At the same time too it is odd that there are days where one can say without any visual evidence that there is victory and the struggles (be it personal or outside type of stuff) will soon pass. This is what I often find with my walk with God. Somedays it just comes so naturally to walk with the Lord and be confident of what I know to be true. Then there are other days when it ain't so easy to believe. I suppose this is a natural part of being human, but does it have to be? I think I may know the answer to that already.

Anyway, I just wanted to put a small post here so that I could be deemed alive again. Plus it might be good to finish the whole 40 days of praise thing. Time to just suck it up and be thankful regardless of my circumstances and my shortcomings.

Lot's of stuff has happened since the last post and strangely enough there is a lot that is still the same. I will update and try to do some funny stuff along the way as I feel inspired and become alive to the blogger life again.


Praise note: Thank you so much God for protecting my mother in her accident. From our human perspective there is a lot that should have happened and yet she was pretty much unscathed. Thank You BIG!!!

How Facebook ate my blog...

Insane... it is odd how new things come along and other things just seem to fade away... things are always moving i suppose... so many thoughts running though my mind on this idea, but i will not preach... though it will be a good message someday...

hard to believe that this school year is all but 2 days over... PTL that next year i know what I am doing again... it is weird to live on a year by year process, but at least I know for now...

my little guy turned 3 on father's day (17th) and i am hoping to see him next week... crazy...

i guess there is not a lot going on in my head (leave it alone) right now, but i did want to update so that if there are people who actually read this blog, they will not think i am dead... things are goodish and will keep moving whether i choose to move, love, or sit still... so as always and as we all do, I have a choice with how I want to live the life that God has given me/us... anywho...

can't wait for...

Helpless???

An observation that has occurred to me is how "self" absorbed I can become. In the fall I felt the Lord was asking me to step back from local church youth ministry for a spell and eventually that is what I did. I believe this step of obedience was good, but at times during this break I have caught myself dwelling on my issues as if no one else around me was hurting. Could part of my willingness to step back be because it is tough to be there or feel like I have to be there? Ouch!!!

What got me to thinking about this has been an instance of me trying to be there for someone as of late. It has been amazing to be able to be there and pray with them, but it is painful when I leave these moments and the enemy still seems to have a hay day with this person. Part of me (well most, okay all of me) wishes that I could say the magic words to make peoples struggles go away and they could live strong and unfazed by satan's attacks. It really causes me to feel very helpless. This is humbling. Perhaps it is the man in me, but I wish I could fix everyone's problems and leave feeling like it will all be okay. Yet this is not the case. So without knowing fully what next to say or even what I should say, I guess I cling to this verse and live it:

I lift my eyes up to the hills - where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip - he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord watches over you - the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all harm - he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forever more.
Psalm 121

Funny post yet to come, but someday i promise...

whoa, random...

hello all,

so i guess i have some catching up to do... but first i want to say that i have been blessed by some serious posts from people who i did not expect serious posts from... it has been neat and encouraging to see your hearts... that's right, i said neat...

so i had an awesome time with my boy and then boys the weekend before last... it was great to see lee and it was great to go potty with my youngest... it was the first time for me with him and it was so cool to do a daddy thing... every little thing is a great blessing for me with the kids...

one question that came to me over that weekend though that i have been chewing on for about a week and a half is "what is my mission?" just got me thinking i guess...

this saturday was our first contemporary service since a month before Christmas and i loved it... it was so good to play with the guys again and it was an amazing time of worship... (for me anyway... i can't speak for anyone else) i then proceeded to the world's greates campfire... if you missed that, well then you just missed it... too bad for you...

i also am enjoying the tradition of sunday night phase 10 after church... despite the volume level in the house, there is much laughter and i appreciate that greatly... here are two memorable quotes from such evenings:

Rhonda: "skip Theron"
Theron: "Rhonda!!! Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!"

Scottie: "I'm out."
Theron: "I'm gonna slit your throat!!!!!!"

ahhh, good times...

and so now i am going away for senior girls volleyball to saint andrews... tim and i have coached this team for the second year in a row and i really enjoy it... they are a great group of girls and are a lot of fun to be around... it is fun to win too, but you know...

so yeah, there is my update... with all this serious posting going on i think that i may have to dig deep and come up with a funny one... i will see what i can find... until next time boys and girls; scott's quote of the week was so my idea...

later...

40 Days of Praise: Day 763

true story; hope the ending is not too predictable for some who hate that in true stories... (scott ings)

the other night was a really bad night in terms of sleeping... in other words it was just not happening... it has been a long time since i have had nightmares, but let's just say that the other night was being lam basted hard core with some freaky stuff in my sleep... after waking up around 3 or 4 times i finally clued in that it may be something bigger... so i rolled over and said perhaps the simplest prayer i have ever uttered... it went a little something like this " God, Ya gotta help me out here, I need sleep... Amen... "

here comes the predictable ending... i then rolled over again and that was it for the night until my alarm went off in the morning... Praise God... He is in there for the big and small... i love these reminders... So thank you God for protecting my mind and getting me back to sleep and keeping me there... You are so good...

40 Days of Praise, Day ???

so this is a quick one and i don't even know what day i am on... but anywho...

as was mentioned the band got together wednesday night for our first practice since a month before Christmas... all i can say is that it felt right... i loved it... we worked on 3 new songs and it was great... God just seemed to bring it together and it was a great time of worship... i have really missed these times and hope that we can be disciplined enough to keep this up and have the saturday night services again...

yep, so i guess that is it... Thank You Lord for the guys... May You be the center of our music... it is Yours anyway...

point form post...

just a bit of an update so that kirk does not pronounce me dead...

1) i am not dead despite the attempt on my life by "not neves" and as a side note have gained a taste for paint and glue... okay, the acquired taste may or may not be a lie...

2) once again the mavs finished 4th place and i left the tournament limping and bruised... how fun... i love sports... (really i do)

3) for the first time in a while i got a bit of an april fool's ribbing in... i was able to convince a close friend of mine that the bay of fundy is not considered a part of the atlantic ocean. just a separate, unconnected body of water... love ya sarah...

4) i suppose this could be a praise, but i am super pumped because the band is getting together tonight and practicing for the first time since about a month before Christmas... can't wait... may Christ be the center of this...

yep, so that's all... be blessed today...

bit of a break...

okay, todays post will not be a day of praise, but who knows, maybe i will find a praise as i type this out... that type of stuff is kind of cool...

so todays post will be called "How Stephanie Fitzsimmons Tried to Kill Me."

due to my phenonmenal ability to gab i missed the boat off of white head today the first time so i had to spend another hour and a half at the school... didn't seem to bad until i offered to help stephanie with some of the odd jobs/spring cleaning she was doing in her class... the first job was to clean out two red bottles of paint so that we could put pink (steph's fave color) paint in them... so i did and as is the case most times when i play with paint, my hands ened up dirty... no prob i thought... then my next job to do was to sort through some construction paper and put them in very percise piles... yet as i was separating them i had to moisten my fingers so instintively i licked them... paint does not taste good incase anyone was wondering... now she claims that it was non-toxic, but i just wanted to say that if i do not post within the next week, kirk perry has the right to pronounce me... well you know what...

hopefully my next post i will be able to tell you all about the tournament this weekend and how we came in better than friggin' 4th place this year...

peace,

~scotland~

40 Days of Praise: Day 29

Undone by MercyMe

To the cross I run
holding high my chains undone.
Now I am finally free,
free to be what I've become.
Undone.

This has a couple of different meanings for me but I think that somehow they go together. The other night in Bible study one of the questions posed was regarding plans that we had for our lives and how they compare to where we are and what our plans are now. To say the least, I am not where I planned on being in many areas of my life. This process has been tough on me to say the least. Through these times of molding and struggling and fighting and whatever emotion there is "I" have become undone and seemingly have lost control of my life. Now this is not to say that I cannot handle everyday stuff, but the Big Picture is not in my control anymore. Slowly, I think that is becoming okay with me. Slowly. Yet in this process of what seems to be a negative in becoming undone, the chains are coming undone as well. Chains of allowing opinions of others to hold me down, chains of buying into the lies that I am not good enough and trust me there are many other chains that are becoming undone and I suspect many more to come.

For this unravelling of sorts, I am beginning to give God praise. Not totally there, but today I can give God praise for this. Gloria Dios.

40 Days of Praise: Day 28

Today's note of praise is simple.

Lord, I thank You for my young adult Bible study group, the study, the conversations and for what You are teaching me through these lessons. Awesome.

40 Days of Praise: Day 27

Today's praise came in the form of an answer to yesterdays questions that i was having.

I had a meeting with an individual who wants me to work with a young person as a Big Brother type of role. The dilema for me is that instead of losing hours with Sid, I have gained hours. (some problem, eh?) So I have been wondering how I was ever going to fit a few extra hours in my schedule, but I am going to try. As our conversation concluded we were joking about how I am bouncing from place to place regarding work, Bible study, basketball, volleyball and other various activities and then she made a comment that God totally took and deposited into my innermost being. As we were leaving she off the cuff said, "you are needed here" regarding the busyness of working with special needs and possibly being a big brother, etc... Now I understand that what was said was said in jest, but it hit me in the heart. I am needed. Wow! I am not sure if that is more scary or encouraging, but man it felt good to hear.

So:

God I thank You for Your word for me through this woman who may not have realized that she was giving it to me. I know that without you I am nothing, but with You there is purpose.

...and for the record, if you are reading this and are feeling useless and discouraged, God wants you to know that you are needed. He wants to take you, mold you and use you. Are you available? Think about it. God needs and wants to use you. Amazing.

40 Days of Praise: Day 26

It is funny I think that even though I have work that I love I can still catch myself feeling restless like there is supposed to be more or "something" is going to be "more" fulfilling. I caught myself feeling this way for the first time in a while today. Not envious of someone or something, but just restless. Now don't get me wrong, I understand what I am doing is important, but for some reason today it just felt like it wasn't enough. Not sure, just being honest.

So that being said, here comes the praise. Yesterday I made a post and began with saying that I did not feel like praising, but decided that I had to anyway. That post ended up dissappearing into cyber space or something. Today's blog has the same feeling of blah, but if I am to change my perspective I must "resolve" to praise through the crap.

Lord, I praise You for Jeremiah 29:11. Though today I feel like I am falling short and am not offering enough, or there is something bigger for me, You know the plans that You have for me. That means for today and beyond. Help me to see the impact that I may be making today and be thankful.

And for those that are interested and praying, this weekend was supposed to be my first unsupervised weekend with Vaughn and it does not appear that will be happening. Please pray for God's timing in all of this. Thanks.

And just for fun because I thought this was awesome. At the risk of being a progger:

40 Days of Praise: Day 25

today's praise has got to be for an amazing weekend... the break was nice, the kids on the basketball teams played amazing and for the first time ever both boys and girls won the championship in the same year and my time with my son was excellent...

and for the record as a totally biased father my son is a kick butt bowler for a 2 year old... he may or may not have beat me if i was keeping score... so we did that for 2 hours and to be honest i think he could have gone til they turned the lights out... then we ate... that was nice... things are looking good... so...

Lord, I thank You for an awesome weekend filled with fun, rest and my beautiful little boy... Your blessings are amazing and though I sometimes struggle to show it, I am thankful... Praise You!

and if you are looking for a funny, yet accurate depiction of the basketball games, see www.habhater.blogspot.com

40 Days of Praise: Day 24

Today's praise is for His provision. Have I used that one already??? Oh well, He never ceases to amaze me. In short, I have had the vehicle situation, hotel situation all taken care of for this weekend. Which means that I get to see the games, most importantly see my son and also get a bit of a break off of Grand Manan which is appreciated always. So thank you Tim (car), Julie (accomodations),Geoff (my ride to work on thurs), Jo (for prayers) and most importantly God for always seeming to work things out. You are all amazing. Have a blessed weekend "ALL". I am blessed to be an acquaintence with you all. May God give you a wonderful weekend of rest over these next few days.

Gloria Dios!!!!

In regards to the Jeep... to be continued...

40 Days of Praise: Day 23

Today is going to be honest. Actaully everyday is honest, but I will openly admit today that I don't feel much like praising. But I will anyway. I think I heard Joyce Meyer or someone say something like speak truth even when it doesn't seem real and watch God make things happen. Something like that. I can't believe I just quoted Joyce Meyer on my blog. Weird.

First I will say why I don't "feel" like praising just to face it and determine to not be defeated by it. As well I could use some prayer on this issue ASAP. Basically my Jeep died today. I think it is the starter, but the timing is the issue more than the actual event. I am suppose to take Sid to Fredericton Friday night for the Provincials and then I will be staying Saturday to spend some time with Vaughn. Ya see the frustration here. Prayer is appreciated. Thank you.

So in the midst of all this, I will say that I am glad that;

"My God will never leave me or forsake me. Whether I see it or feel it or get to go away this weekend or not, THAT IS FACT. "

40 Days of Praise: Day 22

As was mentioned before this whole process of 40 Days has been a changing of perspective time. God has used this time to take things that normally I would complain about or just not like and help me to see the blessing in them. I had one of these moments yesterday.

As has been the case a lot lately, yesterday was a snow day and school was cancelled. Normally this bothers me and I hate to miss days at work. This was the case for yesterday as well, but God redefined some of my thinking. I don't like winter and missing a day of work because of it does not make it any better, but as I was driving home yesterday after a "relaxing" day off I had a moment. There is a car comercial where the guy who is driving his car "arrives" at what he calls the perfect moment and ends up losing it because he got distracted by what was for lunch. Well as I was driving home God blessed me with one of those moments. As I was entering Seal Cove it was amazing. The sky was beautiful and orange, the sun was glistening on the snow, the water on the left was calm and the village just seemed like something off of a post card. As I was put in awe by this beautiful scenery these are the words that I heard in the background being sung to a beautiful acoustic guitar.

How can I keep from singing Your praise?
How can I every say enough,
how amazing is your love.

How can I keep from shouting Your name?
I know I am loved by the King
and it makes my heart want to sing.

As this was happening God took what I normally hate (snow) and revealed it to me as one way that He decorates His creation to bless me with its beauty.

Thank you Lord that You would do that for me. What amazing love You must have for Your children.

40 Days of Praise: Day 21

well here we are... we are now on the back 9 of the 40 Days of Praise... there was a while when i thought i would never get this far... but here we go...

todays note of praise goes to God for His transforming power... i shared a bit of this last night at church and i will touch on it a bit today... i am just amazed by God and His patience as we (I) go through this every day routine (or not routine) called life... honestly, i would have given up on me a long time ago, but God has not and despite the rough edges He still blesses and moves in me and through me... i love that though i may never understand it...

just a bit of my testimony: when my mother was pregnant and i was the one inside of her blessing her with my wonderful kicking skills God did something very significant... yes even more significant than having me brought into the world... hard to believe i know... well my mother was pregnant before she was married and i was concieved outside of the confines of marriage... now my mom was a woman who was serving the Lord so the guilt that she felt was tremendous... moving along... there was a night that she went to her church and there was a special evangelist there and he was known for his prophetic ministry... after ther service there was a call and because of the guilt my mother was glued to her seat... a bit later on this man approached my mother and the words he spoke rocked her (and apparently me) to the core... he said to her without ever meeting her, "Donna, do not be ashamed and do not be discouraged because inside of you is a baby boy who is going to win God's people to Him."

the funny thing about this testimony is that my mother never told me this part of her life until i was in my third year at bethany training to be a youth pastor... and to be honest there have been a lot of days when i have felt that i am not fulfilling that word very well, but it is good to know that God does have a purpose regardless of my foolishness at times...

so this is why i have changed my blog's name to "Grindstone"... God is and has been taking me through a process where He is transforming me by taking of some rough edges and to be honest in a lot of cases it has been painful... but ultimately it is good to get to a God centered perspective bit by bit... So:

I praise You God for Your Transforming Power. Mold me Lord.

40 Days of Praise: Day 20

Today's note of praise is something that I have not been thankful for for a long time. This past week we celebrated a familiar holiday to all of us which wells up good, gushy emotionns in some and bad, bitter emotions in others. That's right boys and girls, I am talking about Scottie's birthday eve otherwise known as Valentines Day. In the past and a lot over this past year the thought of that day or lovey dovey couples in general made my skin crawl, but God has been doing something in me this week. For some reason I have appreciated my singleness over this past couple of weeks more than ever. I don't know if I can fully explain that because I am not sure where this transformation is coming from, but it is kind of cool I guess. It also dawned on me again last night as I was sitting amongst a group of friends eating way too much birthday cake and peanut butter cookies. As I scanned the room of 10-12 people all were couples except me and one other. Now just a few months ago (around Christmas break) I sat in the same type of situation and left the group of people at one of the lowest points that I have been at emotionally. All I could see is what these people had and what I did not. It was brutal on my head and my heart. Yet as I sat there last night, not only did I have a peace, but almost a thankfulness for my current dating (or lack there of) situation. This is new, but I like it.

Now don't get me wrong here. I don't think along the same lines as Paul and feel that I am called to be single and life is better that way for all of my days. Also if God were to say to me, "Here she is Scottie. Now do things right this time" I would not complain, but until that day comes I think I may survive if this attitude of thankfullness can stick around. So here it is and to be honest, I can't believe I am saying this"

Thank you God for my singleness. Even though I don't always feel it, it is a gift from You. May I take advantage of this time to invest in others, invest in me, invest in my kids, and in my future mate by prayer and becoming the man that You want me to be. Amen.

40 Days of Praise: Day 19

i wanted to leave a video on here but i am technologically challenged so i will not... but given the recent 2 days where we have snow days and i do not get to go to work, it was titles "things not to do on snow days"... i liked it and if i can figure this out i may post it later... go progger go...

today i think that my praise has got to be for the people around me that God has provided for me this winter... be it with financial help or whatever, God has blessed me with good family, friends who genuinly care for me and for that i am thankful... everyday is still a battle, but i know that there is help and even if all these people fail me, God's still got my back... it sounds so cliche, but each day that rings true...

now am i where i wanted to be when i was to turn 29? not really, but i guess i am not in control and that is alright... i have a good way of messing stuff up... better for me to have someone bigger handle my affairs...

not to quote a country song but "Jesus, take the wheel"... i am tired of swerving...

40 Days of Praise: Day 18

Getting close to halfway there and it has been kind of cool to see how things swing a bit when one's perspective changes. Still hard times and annoying interruptions in life, but it is easier to cope with a more God centered perspective.

Todays praise is for answered prayers. It is so easy to take for granted the "little stuff" that we pray for and just assume will happen. This happened to me on Saturday. The weather was snowy and rotten as I was about to drive to Fredericton to see my little guy, who by the way is a kick butt bowler. Before I was about to get off of the boat I slipped up a prayer asking for safety on the road as I travelled there and back. When I returned to Black's Harbour it dawned on me that God answered my prayer. What caused me to realize this was the fact that I saw a car in the ditch on the way to Freddy, a fender bender in Freddy and a car that slid into the division between the highways between Saint John and Black's. Apparently it only took me three times to notice before I clued into what the Lord was telling me.

So...

Lord, I thank You for answered prayers even if I forgot that I prayed them. You are faithful.

40 Days of Praise: Day 17

As I have been doing a little reading lately God is challenging me on how I use my time... I believe that He is moving me from being lonely to being alone with Him... That sounded much nicer in my head... crap... Anywho, what I mean is that I think God is changing my perspective on my alone time... Having some insight into others lives has helped me to realize how fortunate I am to be able to be alone and get that intimate time with God...

The thing is this... I basically work from 8:45 to 8 or 9 at night, but it is amazing the way that God has orchestrated these jobs so that I can step back and attempt to "just be" with Him... For example, as I am travelling to work I take a half hour boat ride which is amazing for reading and sitting silently with God... Even in the silence God speaks through the beautiful nature that I see each trip... On the trip back there is a Christian radio station that has a sermon for the exact half hour of my trip... Adrian Rogers is the preachers name and I swear that he is speaking right to me most days... As well with my job during the evening it is so nice to be able to step back and go to my room and worship on my guitar while my student entertains himself... This is so unique and the more I think of it, I am thankful for this situation...

So here it is:

God, I am thankful for the times that YOU have set aside for me to be with YOU... May I take advantage of them and not complain about being bored and lonely... They truly are precious and I don't want to take them for granted anymore...

40 Days of Praise: Day 16

I have to admit that today has been tougher for me to find something to praise about for whatever reason... Could be my selfishness, lack of faith or focus on the right things... I'm not sure, but the focus fog sure hit thick today, but there is still something to praise about none-the-less even though I feel I really had to search for it...

Today God reminded me of his past blessings and how He has taken care of me... I was chatting with someone on MSN and discussing some unexpected stressful "issues" that came my way today and I became very frustrated again with "things"... Yet as we discussed these things I went back to how God has got me through "crap" before so I suppose that He would be there for me now too though I am not sure how... As I got to this type of thinking something inside of me squirmed (I don't think it was gas) and I became very anxious... It was almost like I would rather be upset with my situation than have peace and remember God's past blessings... As I think of it, this is a strange comfort zone if you ask me... But like it or not, if I don't ignore the obvious or become hard hearted, God has been there and brought me throught a lot and I guess He ain't done...

As well this week I was given an article that I did for the Christian newspaper sometime last year... It spoke on being in our "ruts" in life and as I read it the Holy Spirit began to convict me with my own words of praise to the God who has blessed over and over...

So though my "Inner Critic" and my flesh don't want me to say this today; I Praise You Father for Your Reminders of Your Past Blessings Because They Remind Me That You Have Been Faithful, You Are Faithful Today and You Will Always Be Faithful... Continue to remind me often if You please...

40 Days of Praise: Day 15

Today I think I have to give praise to God for music... It seems that whenever the enemy would attack me with discouragement, my desire to play my guitar or the churches piano or drums decreases greatly... Yet when I decide to "suck it up" and not let the enemy have the victory and play on, I have beautiful times with my Saviour... As of late God has been bringing me back to music and I have been much more disciplined in spending that personal time with Him and "He" shows how beautiful it is to have those intimate times again... this is so odd to me since i never touched a musical instrument before i my second year of college, but I suppose we never know what pleasant surprises God has for us... So there it is: Thank you Saviour for music and the ability that you've given me to use this gift for You... May I use it more and more as I long to be with You...

40 Days of Praise: Day 14

Today my praise is for heat... I am thankful for warm climates, and warm houses...


That being said, I really appreciate them today for it is freezing outside as well as inside my house... I woke up and much to my delight (NOT!!!) I could see my breath... Now initially I was hoping that this was some elaborate prank and I was actually outside of my house, but alas I was not... That is the funny part...

Here is where I am asking for prayer: I have two options for oil trucks... One will be here on Sunday and they allow me to put a little in at a time and option #2 is one that would cost I think 400-800 dollars to fill my tank which of course I do not have... I do not get paid til next Friday, so you see my conumdrum here I am sure... I sure can't wait til spring so the weather will be warmer and I can fill my tank a little at a time and be ahead next winter... So if ya would, please pray... I need a Holy Spirit blanket around my house so my pipes don't freeze...

Typically I would be super stressed, but now I am not... Just a little concerned... I have no clue what to do, but fortunately someone bigger than me will help me out... Right???

40 Days of Praise: Day 13

Man oh man, I am seriously flying here... I think this is my third post this week... Perhaps I am coming out of my little funk and getting thankful again... And to think that a couple of days ago I was going to put a "closed" sign on this blog and not do this blog thing anymore... I had a thought today that I want to share and then I will share my praise for today... I had the scripture in my head earlier and it has now left me, but it was about us humbling ourselves before God and this morning on my drive to work it hit me in a new light... This may not be new to all you scholars out there but for me it was a Eureka moment... God wants us to humble "ourselves" before Him... Now before you say Duh, let me explain why this is such a revelation to me... I think I always just assumed that being humbled meant that there would be humbling circumstances that would happen to me and that is how I would be humble... Now don't get me wrong, there have been plenty of those, but it occurred to me this morning that for us to humble ourselves before God was an intentional act for us to do... But here is my question: How do I/we in real, nuts and bolts life do this? I am sure that is is something that I should know by now, but can someone tell me what I am missing here?

And now on to my praise... I am thankful for and praise God for His love... Admittedly there have been a lot of times in life and as of late that I have questioned God's love for me, but thinking back to the last weekend that I was able to see my son, God reminds me of His love for me as I think of my love for my son...
As I was able to speak to a friend of my from my old church we talked about what a great illustration parenthood is of God's love for us... When my son hugs or kisses me, or when he says thank you daddy, the pride, excitement, and joy that wells up in me is overwhelming... Is this how God feels when we love on Him or express thankfulness to Him? According to His Word I am getting to the place where this is bit by bit becoming real to me... So although I do not always "feel" it I am thankful for God's love... Thanks Timmy, it does come back to that...

40 Days of Praise: Day 12

i am thankful for "Dog Beer" because it quite literally made my eyes water due to the laughter that it brought out from my innermost being... check this out...

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/D/DOGGIE_BEER?SITE=MITRA&SECTION=ENTERTAINMENT

if you do not find this funny due the foolishness of it i would like to quote the wonderful band named HOKUS PICK...

micheal w. smith, he doesn't need anything, he's perfect...

oh, wait... that's not it... here goes: "YOU REALLY NEED TO LEARN TO LAUGH!"

40 Days of Praise: Day 11

i am thanful for spaghetti... cheap and it gets me by when the cupboards are bare... yay for spaghetti...

40 Days of Praise: Day 10

wow, wow, wow... this forty days thing has finally reached double digits... despite what the lack of blogging may indicate to some, deep down i am thankful... especially after last sunday when i was able to spend time with my youngest boy... that makes me thankful... he is so beautiful... and yes he is mine... i know you were thinking it...

today's blog is simple... i praise God that i can be real and not have to feel condemned... of course that does not mean that i always feel free of such thoughts but i am SLOWLY learning that God created me and that is cool... often times i feel bad because my realness or in confusing times i feel like i am complaining, but i suspect that God is big enough to handle my questions... i suppose i just have to get past seeming vulnerable in peoples eyes and ask the questions and be willing to dig deep to find the answers...

does anyone ever feel bad for feeling blunt and not so proper at times? is this less Christian??? this pic although fun represents a lot of what i have been feeling lately bouncing back and forth between two schools of thought... this is a discussion starter so, ready, set, GO...