Ok, so I have been away. I haven’t written since before Christmas, but all must understand that the holidays are busy. Honestly, I have been taking care of business and business does not involve blogging if you know what I mean. Now I should be able to be more regular about my entries, at least for a while. So, I have not spent as much time in the Word as I have intended this vacation. I have definitely spent time with Him, and with reflecting on my current life, my current selfishness and my current goals and objectives. Of course now, with school mostly done and gone from my schedule, I have much to consider as far as what we are to do. I look forward to the free time, but i wonder about my next assignment. I am ready to return to work, but I am concerned about what my year will be like. I am not quite sure what will be expected of me, nor what exactly I will be doing.

The past week has been the awesomest time with family and most specifically my wife. She got to take me to some locations of her past and create some new memories with me in St. Simons Island, GA and Savannah, GA. The locations are beautiful and I cannot wait to return. It was great to be totally relaxed and to spend time walking through parks and beaches, to have quiet meals talking about life and dreams and to think about the future and try and figure out what we want to do. Business ideas and thoughts of interest from virtual history to opening restaurants were discussed and we were excited to be able to stretch our minds and our dreams and consider what we could do. Now our job is to pray and wait for direction. God needs to lead us, I do not want to chase my own dreams and leave God behind. We have learned a lot, and we have learned that we need His support as well as the support of each other and selfishness is not an option.

Well, I have things to do though, I have to complete my mother’s website for her cottage retreat rental. I have another website to work on for a sub shop in my town. I also have some work to do for my wifes photography business website www.freshfromthenest.com

We head back home on Friday and will have the weekend to adjust to home schedule before I return to work. A new year, a new building to work in, a new schedule and a new outlook. Lord, bless this year, not with stuff, but with direction and with showing Your Will for our lives… we want to always follow You.

Return of the Blog…

Ok, so I have been away. I haven’t written since before Christmas, but all must understand that the holidays are busy. Honestly, I have been taking care of business and business does not involve blogging if you know what I mean. Now I should be able to be more regular about my entries, at least for a while. So, I have not spent as much time in the Word as I have intended this vacation. I have definitely spent time with Him, and with reflecting on my current life, my current selfishness and my current goals and objectives. Of course now, with school mostly done and gone from my schedule, I have much to consider as far as what we are to do. I look forward to the free time, but i wonder about my next assignment. I am ready to return to work, but I am concerned about what my year will be like. I am not quite sure what will be expected of me, nor what exactly I will be doing.

The past week has been the awesomest time with family and most specifically my wife. She got to take me to some locations of her past and create some new memories with me in St. Simons Island, GA and Savannah, GA. The locations are beautiful and I cannot wait to return. It was great to be totally relaxed and to spend time walking through parks and beaches, to have quiet meals talking about life and dreams and to think about the future and try and figure out what we want to do. Business ideas and thoughts of interest from virtual history to opening restaurants were discussed and we were excited to be able to stretch our minds and our dreams and consider what we could do. Now our job is to pray and wait for direction. God needs to lead us, I do not want to chase my own dreams and leave God behind. We have learned a lot, and we have learned that we need His support as well as the support of each other and selfishness is not an option.

Well, I have things to do though, I have to complete my mother’s website for her cottage retreat rental. I have another website to work on for a sub shop in my town. I also have some work to do for my wifes photography business website www.freshfromthenest.com

We head back home on Friday and will have the weekend to adjust to home schedule before I return to work. A new year, a new building to work in, a new schedule and a new outlook. Lord, bless this year, not with stuff, but with direction and with showing Your Will for our lives… we want to always follow You.

convicted I am. yesterday was a big day. I am not an Oprah fan, but we (my wife Brandi,friend Alicia, my Mom and myself) all watched her show about her work a year ago in South Africa. South Africa, a place where AIDS has ravaged families, poverty has widened and spirits have been downtrodden. There is more pain and suffering there than I can describe, yet they go on. However, I am convicted. why? My life has so much stuff. I am concerned with stuff, with situations, with work, with houses, cars, guitars, geek tech stuff, money, dieting, restaurants, toys for my daughter, gifts for my wife.

Meaningless! in the grand scheme of things, what do these things mean? what do they offer to eternity? People are dying and starving and I am trying to figure out what widget or wicket I am going to acquire next.

Next we saw Return of the King. Do I love like that? Do I stick by friends like that? Do I have courage? Do I have Faith? When things are bad, can I look it in the face and acknowledge the truth that there is more, that there is meaning and that there is someone larger in control and that there is more than this life? As Gandalf said, as he described Heaven to Pippin… “Death is a path that we all must take”. But it is not the end, it is another beginning.

How do I change? Lord, show me what you want me to do? How do I honor You? my family? how can I live with purpose? let go of these things? move forward and make a difference in the lives of other people? How do I do this without coming off like a lunatic or preach monger? Lord, give meaning to my life. give me purpose, give me a vision of what I can do for You. I am self centered, comfortable and unwilling to move. My heart wants to, but my flesh holds me down, shys away from the full commitment. Help Me to understand and to lead my family smartly to purpose.

Life with Purpose…

convicted I am. yesterday was a big day. I am not an Oprah fan, but we (my wife Brandi, her friend Alicia, my Mom and myself) all watched her show about her work a year ago in South Africa. South Africa, a place where AIDS has ravaged families, poverty has widened and spirits have been downtrodden. There is more pain and suffering there than I can describe, yet they go on. However, I am convicted. why? My life has so much stuff. I am concerned with stuff, with situations, with work, with houses, cars, guitars, geek tech stuff, money, dieting, restaurants, toys for my daughter, gifts for my wife.

Meaningless! in the grand scheme of things, what do these things mean? what do they offer to eternity? People are dying and starving and I am trying to figure out what widget or wicket I am going to acquire next.

Next we saw Return of the King. Do I love like that? Do I stick by friends like that? Do I have courage? Do I have Faith? When things are bad, can I look it in the face and acknowledge the truth that there is more, that there is meaning and that there is someone larger in control and that there is more than this life? As Gandalf said, as he described Heaven to Pippin… “Death is a path that we all must take”. But it is not the end, it is another beginning.

How do I change? Lord, show me what you want me to do? How do I honor You? my family? how can I live with purpose? let go of these things? move forward and make a difference in the lives of other people? How do I do this without coming off like a lunatic or preach monger? Lord, give meaning to my life. give me purpose, give me a vision of what I can do for You. I am self centered, comfortable and unwilling to move. My heart wants to, but my flesh holds me down, shys away from the full commitment. Help Me to understand and to lead my family smartly to purpose.

Revelations… lessons in fatherhood.

Ok, Christmas Eve, this week is moving so fast. Yesterday was very interesting as a man, a husband and a parent. I finally felt and understood that my parents were not really trying to be mean to me when they were mean to me. It was more likely that my actions had necessitated harsh punishment to bring me back in line. I am currently learning that with my daughter. She is testing boundaries and seeing how much control she has. Although I desire not to be harsh on her, I have realized that letting her lead and rule will cost much more in the long run than the few minutes of discomfort of removing her from a restaurant for blatant disobedience. It is a strange paradox, loving something so much yet having to punish. It is an interesting picture of God that we live every day. In fact, how much more is it that he punishes us because he loves us? and should we refer to it as punishment, or more appropriately as discipline. In revelations 3:19, Jesus says “Those whome I love I rebuke and discipline…”

In Hebrews 12:7 “Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons.”

So, if I did not discipline my daughter, I would not truly love her. Likewise, if our parents had not disciplined us, then they would not have loved us, or desired the very best for us for as we see in Hebrews 12:11 “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for thos who have been trained by it.”

These are interesting facts, for we all want to avoid discipline. I have found that in my growth and faith, I have still hung on to God as the discipliner. Why? I am not sure, but that view affects how I approach Him, and hinders me. At some times, I can get past this, but I constantly struggle with this thought. However, should we not again view God as our Father, as He is referred to in the Bible so much as our father. We should not avoid discipline. We should understand that God loves us and we should know that His true and perfect Love includes discipline, not because He is a harsh God, but because he wants the very best for us in growth, faith, righteousness and blessing.

so, now we have broached fatherhood here. I have much more to share, but not time to do so now. It is most rewarding and enjoyable, and it can bring about the widest range of emotions. There is no preparation for it, you meet it where it finds you and you (and God) make of it what you can. As Bill Cosby has said, there is not an instruction book delivered with the child. You are on your own, with only what your parents have armed you with (or convinced you that you will never repeat).