Canoe Trip

I can’t hardly stand it.  Yesterday, I made the decision to take half a day off work and go canoeing this afternoon.  You could say that I’m a little excited.

One of my favorite hobbies died shortly after I got married almost seven years ago.  My canoe had to be sold back then because we had no where to put it while living in an apartment.  Earlier this year, I bought another canoe, lighter and faster this time.

 For those of you who don’t know me really well, I’m into the outdoors thing.  I’m really not a ‘tree hugger’ or anything, but just enjoy getting out and away from the craziness of life.  God’s creation is pretty awesome.  Hiking, camping, and fishing are my favorites.  I have to admit one additional challenge that interests me.  It’s mountaineering.  I’ve never done it, but I am so intriqued by these guys who climb mountains.  There was a program called ‘Everest’ on the Discover Channel a couple of weeks ago and I couldn’t stop watching it.  It showed multiple teams trying to climb Mt. Everest, some coming very close to fatal exhaustion.  Now, I’m probably never going to try Mt. Everest, but when I do start doing something like that it will definitely be on the small scale.  The thought of it freaks Julie out, so we don’t talk about it much.

Words do have power

My wife and I were just talking the other night as we always do of course.  She was explaining to me that she was trying to help keep a friend at work accountable for her actions and her words lately.  Of course this friend had some negative comments about something and justified it by saying that “well, I was thinking it, so I might as well say it”.

 Let me just take issue with that statement right now and say WRONG!  Absolutely incorrect!

The reason I bring this up is because yesterday, I had to deal with the same issue at work.  The negative comments that someone else recited were pointed at me…and this occured in front of my peers, all of which I respect.  Wow, what a crummy start to a potentially wonderful day.  Now for the ripple effect.

Shortly after this incident, my wife calls me with a flat tire.  Was I sympathic?  No, not really.  Did I offer her help?  No, not really.  I am typically a very helpful spouse, usually willing to drive however far to help my wife with her car trouble or any trouble for that matter.  Although my wife is an adult and is perfectly capable of taking care of herself, I didn’t treat her with the love and respect she deserved (I’m sorry again, sweetheart.)

 As for the rest of the day, it could have been better.  I wasn’t my usual chipper and happy self.  It was probably the middle of the afternoon when I chose to get over it and move on.  By that time, there were many people that I crossed paths with where I didn’t postively impact them, nor was I a very good example for Christ.  There were missed opportunities.  By all of this, really I am just saying that “yes”, your words do have power.  They have power both for the good and the bad.  Look at how a few comments affectly so many others indirectly.

Choose your words wisely.  Speaking of which….Pastor Joe’s new sermon series “Mulitple Choice” starts this weekend.  Don’t miss it.

It’s HOT!!!

Okay, so I work in a manufacturing plant where there is no control over the atmosphere inside the plant.  I’m not complaining, it’s just fact that it is hotter inside than out.  Some of you may work in worse conditions and I do sympathize.  But, really all this means is that I can justify a trip to our new Marble Slab Ice Cream or Starbucks for a cold treat tonight.  So by deduction, you could say that I’ll be making many of these trips come August.

By the way, I did have my first visit to the Marble Slab Ice Cream paradise last weekend with Freddy & Angela, Dave & Becca, and Tim…thanks for twisting my arms guys.  Maybe we’ll have to visit again this weekend.

Happy Father’s Day

Happy Father’s Day to all you Dads, Grandads, and Dads-to-be.  Hope you all had a great day!  I just wish it were a two day holiday so we could have an excuse to go out to eat J. Alexander’s again…love that restaurant.

 Thanks to all those who helped teardown after the church service today.  I know we were crunched for time, but the additional effort helped.

Faith

Have you ever noticed how much faith is brought up in the Gospels of the new testament?  It’s very cool to see just what faith can do.  I know that in my personal life that God has done some tremendous things and blessed me greatly.  Also, I see God do the same things in the lives of others.  Then how come there are still those times where we doubt what He can do?  For me, it’s not so much “can He” but “will He”.  Lest we forget that God does answer all of our prayers, just maybe not in the fashion that we would like.  Our church believes in a big God doing big things, so we wait, but never wonder “if” but “when”. 

Can’t wait to see everyone on Saturday night and Sunday!  Enjoy the nice weather and have a great weekend!

Work-aholism

Sometimes I feel like I work and worry about work too much.  Don’t you just hate waking up in the morning and the first thing you do is worry about what is to come for the day?  What a mistake.  That’s what I did this morning and it really set the tone for the day.

 Don’t get me wrong…I love my job…I mean, both jobs that is.  Working as Engineer appeals to my technical, problem solving side and working as a Pastor appeals to my desire to serve God.  With that said, the first thing on my mind this morning should have been my Creator and how I am so glad that I have another day to serve Him.  Work can be consuming, but we can never miss the bigger picture.  Pretty obvious I know, but who said Pastor’s were perfect anyway.  I’ll try again tomorrow.

Family Reunions

My wife and I took the annual trip to West Tennessee this past weekend to spend time with her Dad’s family.  Although like most people, I initially dreaded the weekend with the distant in-laws, but as always it turned out to be just fine.  Unlike reunions in the past though, this year was fairly mild as far as the heat was concerned.

 One thing I paid more attention to this year was the many stories about others that have passed away, where they used to live, etc.  As we drove around the local farmland, some of these memories had all but lost their physical presence in this world.  For example, some houses and barns that were at one point fully functional and useful, were now gone, not even showing any signs of ever existing.  These were places where many people lived their daily lives for many years.  Here people had left their mark but the mark could no longer be seen or proven other than by vague and sometimes distorted memories.  I even commented to Julie that it bothered me somewhat.  It was a simple comfirmation to me that our time here on this earth is truly finite.  I also couldn’t stop thinking about how I have the opportunity to leave my mark on this world as well.  Not so much for my own sake or legacy, but for the sake of God and His Kingdom.

 There are so many things in life that we (including me) want to do…career goals…buy a nice, new truck…play in a golf tournament…head out to the lake this weekend…you get the picture.  These things will most likely fade into the future.  In a hundred years, no one will remember what you did on June 9th, 2007.  I won’t even remember what I did this past weekend a year from now.  So the question is ‘wouldn’t you want to invest some of your limited time here on earth that will most definitely make an impact for someone in eternity?’  God is calling you to make and impact for Him on this earth.  I can’t tell you what that is, but I am certain that He is calling you to do something…are you listening?

 Got one more family reunion in July with my family.  Do we have keep doing these in the middle of summer?  Is that some kind of rule or something?

JE’s First Blog…..baby step 1

Hello to the world of blogging!!!  This is my first blog EVER and I don’t mind sharing that I never thought that I would be doing this.  At the same time, I think it will be cool to give anyone interested some insight into my world.  Maybe this will be a little more visually appealing by the next time you check in….

je