second verse...same as the first

well almost.

i headed to costco to get some dogs for lunch after church. going to any store in this town after church on a sunday is like....crazy. i don't know why i do it. i hate it all the while i am out. and nothing is that important that it has to be bought on a sunday afternoon. its the aisle mongers that drive me nutz. standing there. all 45 of them, mother, father, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, cousins, neighbors...all of them on a sunday afternoon outing. and yes they have found out that costco has the widest aisles of all...can get up to 90 in there w/ no problem makes it all the harder to squeeze by and! there is free food to boot. but i digress.
im haulin my bod across the parking lot and i see this young man and woman...say maybe, early 30's. they have five, count 'em five little ones. the youngest was in a car seat lodged into the seat of the basket and behind them followed two little boys and two little girls. the little boys were holding their sister's hands. all dressed up in their sunday school digs. ack! get out of my way, you guys...i hope your momma and dad know what causes such a brood i thought.
after i got my dogs and onions, i headed home thinkin about that family. and then i realized that those five little kids, the blonde mama and dark skinned daddy could have been us...my siblings all five of us when we were that little. i dont think the oldest boy was eight. i didnt follow that family into the store, cause all i was getting was the dogs, but i know they didn't stand in the aisle. we wouldn't have either. and we were never snot-nosed or otherwise dirty. and we were always well taken care of and fed. i dont think my momma and daddy gave it a second thought about the number of kids they had. and you know...im glad to say i come from a family of six kids. and sometime way back then we did take care of each other. we may not be as close now days, we certainly are separated by distance. but to those of you that read this blog...i love you....you remain in my prayers...

vaya con dios.

g

from the sidelines

driving down the street, i see an ad to call "jon". interesting, i think. jon. john. my mind begins to think of other ways to spell john. sean, shaun. my brain goes further. hmmmmm. how else can i spell john. i know, i could spell it j..u.. a.. n...kind of like shaun ,,,, i could pronounce it JU-awn.... WAIT!!! then i hear a voice of intelligence cry out.....that's JUAN, you fool!!!! you know,like john in spanish. amazing. sometimes i surprise myself.

its time for a nap.

78* predicted for wednesday......

Oh! You're So Full of ....

Keep the beans and bull.

I look back sometimes and laugh at what I was full of. I thought it was so...serious....back then. But I have found that it is exactly as He says, when you fill yourself with His ways, you fill yourself with His Joy. It's kind of nice to walk out of the house in the morning and just feel....GOOD. It's kind of nice not to get blown out by someone's snarly words or irritating disposition. It's kind of nice to put some elbow grease to it and know you can accomplish something just by not caving in to deadlines and pressures.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:12-14)

Make someone's day today....wipe the silly grin off your face and give them a smile.

geo

It Rained

September 14, 2009, for the first time in the history of B-town, that is KC country, it rained. there was no rain recorded for that date in 180 years. yes in fact that was the local headline news for the date. and to think we are in a city of over 300,000 people who thrives on those headlines. ugh. give me a break. give me cooler weather. can you believe we actually dropped to 75*'s and now we are on our way back up to triple digits for the weekend. sheeesh...call me when the headlines read, B-town hit by blizzard. :-)

what else.

started a new bible study, "Jesus, the One and Only". Beth Moore. She gives more. only on week two and totally immersed. Just where I'm supposed to be. did you know the rite of redemption was done to redeem or to "buy back" the firstborn son after having sacrificed them to the Lord. Through His blood we are also "bought back", redeemed. Read Exodus 13:15. we (I) take so much for granted. mary and joseph presented jesus...THE MESSIAH himself....in the temple in the rite of redemption according to jewish law, only for THE MESSIAH to fulfill God's promises by giving His blood for OUR redemption.

what an amazing story.

love ya.
g

And The Ants Have It!!!!

I am sick and tired of the heat. And so are the ants. So guess who has taken up residence INSIDE my house. Yep. The ANTS!
Now it comes down to Home Defense. Guess who is going to WIN. Yep. ME. I hope.

Little Ashley went grocery shopping with me tonite. For dinner. Its a form of bribery....alright manipulation....i allow her. we made it back a hundred and fifty lighter....no not lbs, dollars. and now we have filled all the family faces with shrimp. fried shrimp. florida gold. not bad. i think we are up fifty...lbs....not dollars. the world is unfair.

what do you eat with fried shrimp? all i can think of is more fried shrimp. that seems so very wrong....unbalanced eating. but who wants to tie up their time with lettuce when there is shrimp to be eaten?

i am doing pretty good fixin' dinner. but i am running out of ideas and fear returning to hamburger, chicken, chops rotation coming back. help me if you can. ideas short of mac n cheez w/ other things in it are welcome. you know what i mean...and....you know who i am talkin' to.

auf wiedersehn.

Just Like Havin' a Baby

It has been a good weekend, having an extra day off, to celebrate our labors.

yesterday i was setting up tables and chairs for our Sunday School class. About half way into it, I was joined by another guy, who helped especially with the tables. As I declared the job done, I stated, "There, that's good enough for government work!" To which he added, "Nope, we have to "t" this all up." As he finished he said, "There, that's better. Always work as you are working unto the Lord." Oh the lessons we learn!

Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there is no favoritism. Colossians 4:22 - 25

Enjoy!

It Really Is Too Cool

i am really blessed.....to work at the church. i believe with my heart of hearts He lifted me from a hell-hole and put where i am today, not necessarily because i deserve it, but that there is, in fact, something there for me "to do". and right now, i am just soaking up His peace and living in His zone, and i love it. and i think i have learned to be able to take that with me to whereever i go,,,,work, play, where ever. because it is very much worth it. i am so JOYFUL to know that He loves me that much....
yes, there are some ugly moments @ work....we are are people, dealing with people. but it is different because we are (and we know we are) forgiven and most everyone there forgives. some better than others, some, no most of us, are still learning....growing....stretching.
oh well, you say, you are "in church" 24/7. no i am not. i work 8 hours a day at a church. i participate in church, in a variety of ministries. and i reap the fellowship church provides. and i grow some more.
what is cool is that i have learned that "being in His presence" is where i want to be. whether it is at work...in church...or somewhere else. but no matter where, i want to be in His presence. i don't need anything more than Him.
Now writing about it, well even thinking about it, seems kind of simple, because He just welcomes me in with such wide open arms. you can fit in here too!
but sometimes the reality of the world flares up and we struggle a little more than we have to. mostly because of our own choices. i am going to share a video our youth group did a couple of weeks ago about "getting there". watch it, absorb it, enjoy it