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...

40 Days of Praise: Day 9

Todays praise note is for leftovers... before Christmas time my cupboards and fridge resembled something like what Old Mother Hubbards must have looked like... then comes the family diner and this year it was determined that it would be hosted at my home... there must have been around 20 or so people there and it was a really fun time... also my home has never been so neat and has remained that way since... but it was a real good time and we definately had a good feed... as people began to disperse and leave for their homes they packed up what they had brought and left it in "my" fridge... HOLY CRAP i thought as my bare fridge became full... what a blessing this is.... i now have food... i think as a kid i used to complain about leftovers, but now they are awesome... so yeah, there is my praise for today... still bored, can't wait to see the kids, keep praying... have a great day!!!

40 Days of Praise: Day 8

So here we are moving at a snails pace through this forty days thingy... But hey, despite the discouraging things that always seem to nag i am still praising, mostly... Today was a good day and last nights service was nice other than the fact that i almost coughed my lungs out in front on 200 or so people... as i think about the next week or so that is ahead of me i am thankful for my job... of course it has it's days that are tough, but i love it... especially since starting tommorrow my mother is going back home and most everyone i know will be away or back to work... for this i praise God for my job and i kind of look forward to getting back... but i am thankful for the break as well... just overall thankful i guess... and hey, if you are bored call me because i will be too...

here's hoping you all had a blessed Christmas and have a great 2007...

40 Days of Praise: Day 7

so things aren't being posted here on a daily basis, but i will continue on with my 40 Days of Praise none-the-less... things have been a bit interesting in the last couple of post eh? fun stuff... thank you to those who have been encouraging and have been faithful to lift me up and be my strength/prayer warriors in the tough days... words cannot express...

for those who have been a little tougher on me (politically correct), thanks as well... there are times when your challenging words have caused me to think and question myself... don't get the word question confused with doubt because as i seek what God has for me for now, Grand Manan and the amazing people of this community are definately are what God has for me now in terms of where i live, ect... do i understand that totally??? nope, but all i know is that when i have been obedient, the Lord blesses...

today's praise note is this: I praise God that i will be spending some quality time with my son real soon... now admittedly things have not totally worked out they way that i saw them happening, but still God has been good... as i speak to the people representing me it is evident that real soon things are going to move in the direction of quality father/son time sans babysitter... am i just a smidge excited about this??? YOU'RE FREAKIN' RIGHT I AM!!! so yeah, that is my praise today... 3 years in the making is finally coming into fruition... praise the Lord for His patience with me and love and blessings, etc, etc, etc...

40 days of praise Day 6

today boys and girls i am thankful for sleep... it amazes me how thinking about things, whether they be fact or fiction tucker people out... i am pooped... need rest... yeah... must stop thinking and caring about what i think people think of me... it hurts my head and makes me sleepy... i need a nap... love ya'll...

40 Days of Praise: Day 5

sorry for the delay... i felt that since i was not seeing my kids every second of everyday that i could not do anything else... thank you for the clarification on this issue stephy... actually if i had the choice i would love to see the kids everyday, but sadly that is not an option at this point...

now on to the praise... i am thankful for how God seems to work things out... that is as simple as it gets i guess... when i for whatever reason can't see the sun through the clouds it amazes me that there are things going on none-the-less... God revealed that to me again as he answered yet another prayer request that i had no idea which way things would go... in fact i was preparing to move in the direction of God not blessing me in this situation... some come to me and say, do you know that such and such is the Lord's will for you? then i say yes or no or i don't know and if the answer is yes, they confidently tell me to speak what i know to be God's truth... sounds kind of bold and despite being a Christian for 13 years i sometimes still wonder if i can be so bold... understand that i know the answers in my head, but i think i may have trust issues for whatever reason... though i know God wants to bless me, i wonder if He will anyway... i like to be a positive bubbly person, but i think i expect the worst in a lot of situations because of things that have happened in the past... it is almost like i can believe that God wants to bless you more than He does me...

yet despite my lack of faith, or whatever it is, God is still moving and never ceases to amaze me... praise God for moving and caring about me... praise God for wanting to bless me and even doing it... may i be bold enough to believe that He wants to do that too...

in the future, be ready because i am believing that there will be posts to come where i will say what God has done to bless me and blow my socks off...

also, thanks to everybody for the concern in the last post, but if i can make a request; like kirk said, i am not a fan of the anonymous thing either (especially if it is negative) so if you want to be a part of these conversations, give us a name... also, love each other... for real...

40 Days of Praise: Day 4

for the millions and millions from all around the world come faithfully and read this blog and cling to its every word i apologize for forgetting yesterdays blog... in leiu of what will hopefully be happening this weekend, todays note of praise goes out for my children...

although i don't get to see them as often as i would like to i am still very thankful for them... i am also very thankful that i have boys as well... no offence ladies, but female drama hurts my head... it astounds me how everytime i see the kids the become more and more like little men... seeing their personalities in certain situations just simply makes me laugh... for what little bits of time i get to see them they bring huge joy to me... it will be a beautiful day someday when i can have them for some guy time on my own and be the father that i want to be... that is not a shot or complaint for the current circumstance, but just anticipating the bigger things that are to come... to take what God has taught me and deposit that into my sons; that is what life is all about i am sure... i know there are going to be tough times, but to be able to invest in these little lives that God has blessed me with is a huge honor that i do not take lightly... praise you God for my little boys... what a gift...

40 Days of Praise: Day 3

i am thankful and praise God for my young adult bible study group that meets every monday night... things are beginning to open up a bit and it is getting really good... monday night is quickly becoming one of my highlights of the week... we are studying how to naturally reach out and love those around us... thank you kim for hosting... thank you stephanie for "not" being the leader... i love this time... it is very unique that a group of people can get together, give each other a hard time, laugh a lot, get serious about learning how to love and then talk about whatever til 1:00 in the morning... God has truly blessed me with an amazing group of friends who i feel like i can call... obviously there are some who i am more willing to give intel to than others, but overall this is an amazing group... i feel like i am gushing now, but i really do love this time... Praise You Lord!!!

40 Days of Praise: Day 2

Today all that i can think of to say that i am thankful and praise God for is my brain... Now don't get me wrong, that is not a conceited thing at all... In fact, i would be the first to tell you that i am NOT a book smart person... What i mean by saying that i am thankful for my brain is that i am thankful for the head knowledge that God has given me about who He is... Lately as i have been facing trials i have to admit that i have not felt God near and the "facts" that have been placed in my noggin' from God's Word, or from people or what have you, have been what have kept me from doing something dumb...

I find that lately though since this is something that keeps me somewhat sane, that this is where the battle is really raging... As i pray for people, the flesh rises up and the thoughts that come are really off the wall and not me at all... This has been happening as i have been recieving His Word as well... So hear is my plea to those few who may read this... In Romans it tells us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds... How do we do that... I seriously need a clean slate in my brain... Any thoughts/resources/etc???

blessings,

40 Days of Praise: Day 1

this is a concept that i have seen in a few other blogs through some friends blogs and i was inspired but knew that i was too undisciplined to do it so i left it with them... now i think it is time for me to step up and do this as an act of praise to my all sufficient God... i will not lie... things have been tough lately and i haven't always reacted in the most graceful manner, but God is still working on me and in me and i can see some areas of breakthrough...

some will be serious and some will be random and i may not be able to do this 40 days in a row, but my goal is to do it mon-fri for the next 8 weeks... life will happen and i am sure that i am painting a target on me for the enemy to come at, but it is great to know that greater is He that is in me than he who attacks me...

so here is day #1 of my 40 days of praise...

i thank God for humour... i realize that a lot of times i take life and myself too seriously but i am thankful for humour and the ability to laugh... not too long ago it was tough to laugh and i felt my joy was all but gone... then God tells me to move back home and little did i know who the Lord had for me to hang out with back home... laughter abounds amongst those who are near to me and for that i am thankful... it is great to experience the silliness in life again and not feel like i am a little kid or less of an adult... God has reminded me that amongst the garbage in life and amongst the responsibilities there can stil be laughter... sweet...

Steep learning curve...

so here is my thought for the day... is life just one big learning curve??? i compare that to my current job... i love my job right now, but it seems that almost everyday i learn something new about me, my job and how i handle certain situations... i am either learning about autism, my reactions, my shortcomings, spiritual truth or any other thing you can imagine... these lessons come through insightful co-workers, teasing co-workers, my student, my sleeping habits and many other circumstances... the fact of the matter is that i feel that this job is so much bigger than me and all i can do is just try to keep up and make it through today... if that happens then today is a sucess...

so now i wonder if that is what life is??? is life just a series of learning curves??? bad times and good times... they all show us who we are, how we handle things and what we have inside of us... sometimes i get so bent out of shape because things do not go my way as if life is supposed to cator to my every desire... i wonder if all this is just for me to continually learn about stuff... i think that life might be easier to handle if i could have that perspective... if i could wake up each morning focussed on God, ready to learn whatever life was going to teach me today could i more easily put things in the place where they belong and not be consumed by the crap??? would things slide off of my back more easily if i could see each day as a learning curve rather than things that will hold me down for the rest of my days??? just a thought... anywho, add comments if ya want to be serious... if not, i will ponder alone...


and now because i am a man of my word: Today's shout out!!! Tassy is the recipient of my shout out not to be confused with a shout at... someone else may or have got that already... i have to admit that the last time i think i spoke with Cassidy i left with a satisfied cooling sensation and it was good... i could have been the the tornado that she made me or the envigorating conversation... i can't decide... either way, tassy makes me laugh out loud and she is very good at words and stuff... like you know... i can't wait to read the book "Deep Ravines"... anywho tassy, thanks for making me laugh and i can't wait to chat again and perhaps have another creamy icey delightful treat...

p.s.-> stop listening to emo... it rots your teeth...

pushy = persuasion???

i think i am having one of those times where God is "really" trying to get a message through my thick skull and i may be starting to get it... as of late this message has been shown to me through our young adult Bible study, my bill hybels book, rob bell's bullhorn sermon and just in the fact that it is so darn tough for me to naturally share God's love to those around me... could this be tough because sharing God's love does not require preaching at someone??? things that make you go hmmmmmmm...

where did we ever come up with the concept of getting in someones face and forcing stuff on them is the way to show God's love and change lives for the better... i know that whenever someone comes at me with a pushy, i know better than you attitude about anything i am automatically defensive... maybe this is why i have never bought a ginsu yet... or maybe i have not bought some ginsu knives yet because i fear that i would be tempted to cut my shoes in half...

funny how those of us who are Christ followers want so badly to share Christ with people, yet when we attempt to do it, we leave Christ out of it... actually not funny... probably one of the most sobering questions that i have had to ask myself lately has been "how many people have i pushed away from God by misrepresenting my Savior?" yuck, that is a gross question...

it is interesting i find that in this time when it seems that i have been separated from my closest friends that God would bring some of this revelation to me... it is amazing to me that when i get out of my comfort zone socially God opens up other natural opportunities to get to know others who are not yet serving Him...

and still i find myself in a rush... a door opens, i somewhat shyly walk through and then when the conversation begins my mind races to that sweet, sweet moment when we will all sing the last verse of "just as i am" and this person will give their life to the only one who "really" gives life and as my mind spins and races i have totally missed what this person says to me... perhaps this is why scripture says "be slow to speak and be quick to listen"... and all God's people said, "DUH!!!"

it is awesome when we begin to get past our selfish agendas and leave room for God to show Himself... "be still and know that I am God" now tells me that when i shut up and know that He is God I leave room for Him to show that He is God too...

so here is my underlying thought after all that: may we as God's people be quiet, slow down, get out of our comfy bubbles, and "really" love people... no, really...

* this star is here because i started with two stars and then three so i prequilled the pattern... i don't know... move on...
** and for the record, i know that there have been good times when i have loved people without forcing the Gospel uncomfortably, so this is not totally a scottie bashing rant... just some of the thoughts that i have been pondering lately...
*** it has been a while since i have given a shout out, but i want to give one today... ***

today's shout out goes to someone who i made it a point to try to avoid on the second Bama trip... due to strong personalities i did clash with this person, but i love how God is bigger than that... this person is someone who has totally challenged me to lose my ministry voice, get out of control and allow God to make me the man that He wants me to be... be real huh??? what a concept... this person's passion for reaching out and loving people has sparked a new love for people in me... (of course this is in corraletion with the Spirit's leading as well) this persons honesty and ability to say what is on their mind is very much appreciated despite the fact that at one point it was not... in case you have not figured it out yet, my shout out today goes to none other than Stephanie "not neves" Fitzsimmons... thank you teacher...

Rock on!!!

so i have been thinking about starting a new death metal worship band for those that know me of course the name will have to be "torn meniscus"... i mean is there anything that term cannot do... it causes me great pain while driving to the hoop in basketball or driving sidney to sussex on a sunny day... it causes people to laugh as the words just leave my mouth... it works as a way of calming a flustered teen basketball player to get back on track... if only it could slice and dice and cut through a shoe... then i could market that term and there would be nothing it couldn't do... so instead i will just name the newest greatest death metal worship band this beautiful pair of words and allow nations to be blessed by the torn meniscus...
truth be told, i don't know if i got it or not, but whatever it is, it hurts...


here's a thought to chew on that may just be for me, but probably not just for me...
"if i moved the people on Grand Manan to Alabama, would i have an easier time talking, loving and ministering to them???"

so challenged...

not much to say for me, but i wanted to update this week... so here is my nugget of wisdom... read this blog... this man is awesome and got a God perspective on things... i am sick of sitting on my hands spiritually and seeing Christains doing the same, but i guess i am only acountable for me... it is time for action... read this man's words and hear his heart and be blessed...



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