A Roller Coaster Day

I’m sitting here in the sunroom tonight.  I’m listening to Christmas music sitting next to the Christmas Tree.  It looks beautiful, and it is in a perfect place.  Since we live on a corner lot, you can see it from the road.  The sunroom has three sides that are all windows and it is sitting toward the back.  It’s the only room that a nine foot tree can fit in, and it looks great.  So, this morning I got the tree out and put it up before the Tech – Ga game.  I said this was a roller coaster day and it was.  One of the lows was the game.  Tech’s defense was terrible as usual and it couldn’t hold a good Ga team.  So for the 10^th time in the last 11 years we lost.

One of the highs of the day was decorating the tree with Sheryl.  We talked about our ornaments and the history behind some of them.  It was a great time building good memories for our first Christmas together.  She brings such joy to my life.  Sometimes I think that I don’t deserve her, but then I realize that God gave her to me, so it doesn’t matter what I deserve.  Anyway, the high of the day was spending time with her as we decorated the tree and took a golf cart ride this afternoon.  Tonight we were able to finish up some more decorations and then watch some TV.

Emotionally it was an up and down day as well.  Putting the tree up and getting out some of the Christmas decorations stirred up memories.  They were good memories, but today being Julia’s birthday, the memories were mixed as I thought back on times past.  I did talk with both of the girls, just to check in on them.   I’m sure they were dealing with memories of their own, but they seemed to be doing OK.  I know that this Christmas is going to be hard for them because we won’t be together.  Last year, this tree was in Hilton Head and we all decorated it.  It’s hard thinking we won’t be together.  I am so grateful that I do have Sheryl, and that our love blocks out so much of the pain that I might feel.  The girls don’t have that luxury, and I feel for them.

But the highs exceeded the lows today.  Maybe I am getting too mellow in my later years.  The sting of defeat wasn’t so great this year.  The tree looks great, and it represents a symbol of new life, and new growth.  That’s what I am after, and I am well on my way to finding it, even in the midst of some turbulence.  Turbulence during this season is to be expected, but I have my eye on the prize and someone to walk with me through it all.  This is going to be a great Christmas.  I just know it.  

Christmas Season Begins

Yes, it’s black Friday.  Last night it began at Wal-Mart at 10PM and then at other stores at different times of the night.  At some Wal-Mart’s, the people wouldn’t wait and broke down the barriers to get to the stuff early.  In California, some woman set off a bomb of pepper spray to make sure she was able to get her TV.  If you look at things like that and other incidents you will wonder what this world, and our country in particular, is coming too.  I’m glad I didn’t go out last night or today.  I did do the majority of my Christmas shopping in the past two days, but I did it online, over the Internet.  If this is all Christmas is about, then I don’t want any part of it.  Of course this has nothing to do with Christmas, and everything to do with human greed.  One of the very things Christmas came to save us from is what we are dealing with here right now.

Well enough of today, right now I’m sitting by the fire listening to Bing Crosby singing “Chestnuts roasting on an open fire”.  This brings back such good memories.  It seems like I can’t associate Christmas with anyone else but Bing Crosby and Perry Como.  Of course I do put Arthur Fielder and the Boston Pops in with that mix.  Sure, I listen to lots of other Christmas music, but these are the tunes that really stir up my old memories.  I can remember being over at my aunts “Sisters” listening to Bing Crosby singing Christmas music.  I remember Perry Como on TV and Dad had a Christmas album by Arthur Fielder that we wore out every Christmas.  Now I have them all on my Ipod Christmas play list. 

It’s amazing when you think about it.  I buy Christmas presents for people in Alaska and Florida while I live here.  I don’t have to wrap them or mail them.  I just purchase them over the Internet and have them shipped, usually for free, to the proper address.  I probably have over 300 hours of music on this little device that I can put in my pocket.  I can talk on a phone and see who I am talking to.  I can do all this, yet it is still so much fun to listen to these old songs and think about all the “good old” days.  Were they really so good?  Probably not, but that’s how we remember them.  If we are lucky, God edits out the pain and bad memories with time. 

Tomorrow we will try to get the tree put up. That’s a secondary focus of mine.  The first being the game, of course.  I really hope we will win, but it doesn’t look good.  Well, I guess that is why they actually play the game.  Oh well, I’m going to stop now and listen to the music, Bing is singing “White Christmas”.  I guess we will see that in a couple of weeks in Juneau.  I really do love Christmas.  It’s my favorite time of year.

Happy Thanksgiving Day

This is a note to anyone who still reads this blog.  I pray that you have had a blessed and happy Thanksgiving day.  Whether you are in the US or somewhere else around the world, even if you don’t celebrate Thanksgiving day the way we do; Happy Thanksgiving.  You see, every day should be a day of Thanksgiving.  We should all be thankful for all that we have and the blessings that we enjoy.  I hope that over this year, I have been able to release some joy and passion into your life, because life in the Kingdom is filled with joy and passion.

This morning we woke up with a sense of anticipation.  We knew that we still had a lot to do before everyone started showing up.  We had been aiming for this date as sort of a target date to have the house in order, and we met that deadline.  Thanks mostly to Sheryl; the house looks complete.  Sure there are a few things left, but there are pictures on the walls and all the furniture is in place.  It is a very comfortable house and a great place to live.  As we figured, everyone loved the sunroom the most.  In fact, that seemed to be the center of the afternoon.  We had a total of 17 people for dinner and 6 more came by during the afternoon.  It was a very busy time.

I was glad that we got to go by my Dad’s and see my sisters and Dad and Allene before our company came.  They ate around 12:30 so we got to see everyone but Jodie and Jeff who were late.  It was a quick visit but a good one.  We did Facetime Lisa and the family for a little, and I talked with Jennifer later in the evening.  But, we had company up until about 10PM, and then we still had to clean the kitchen.  It was definitely a busy day.  Tomorrow will be good, I don’t work and will be able to run and do some things around here.

It was a very good Thanksgiving; my only regret is that there are so many of my family and friends that I didn’t get to see.  I miss you all, and look forward to seeing each of you at different times over the holidays.  Thanksgiving means giving thanks, and I give thanks to God for each and every one of you.

Thanksgiving Eve

In about an hour it will be Thanksgiving Day 2011.  Time really goes fast, especially the older you get.  So, it is officially the beginning of the holiday season.  For all the shoppers, black Friday comes and then the annual Tech – GA football game.  Yes it will be an exciting weekend.  But back to Thanksgiving; I’m sure that all over the nation there are millions of turkeys thawing or cooking right now.  We had a tradition when the girls were growing up.  We all had a cranberry in our plate, and one by one, we would pick up that cranberry and say what we were most thankful for.  We would do this right before we started eating.  It was very good, most of the time and it was a great idea to get everyone thinking about what is important.

So, tonight I am going to pretend that I have picked up that cranberry, and that I am sitting around the Dining room table sharing with each of you what I am thankful for.  First, I am thankful for Sheryl and her love for me.  This year is so different for me.  Last year, I was surrounded by people, but constantly lonely.  This year, she has helped wipe that loneliness away.  I didn’t know that I had the capacity to love again.  I’m glad that God brought her into my life for this time.  We are going to have a great time together tomorrow, and I am thankful for all the years that I will have with her as we move into the future.

I’m so thankful for my girls and all their families.  Jennifer, Sean, Adair and Meleah as well as Lisa, Hernan, Anna Roan and Julia Anne.  They are the light of my life, and I am going to miss them so much tomorrow.  But I am thankful for their lives and everything they are involved in.  Now, I have even more family to be thankful for;  Scott, Lacey, Orren, Judah and Ava as well as Levi, Amber, Mecheal and Mason. And then of course I am thankful for Dad and Allene and Laura and Kay and all my nieces and nephews.  I am thankful for all my friends that love us, especially John and Biddie and Bud and Cathy.  But there are so many more that I can’t name them all. 

I am thankful for churches like Bethel Atlanta and Riverstone that are going after the things of God and pushing to bring His Kingdom here on the earth,  I am thankful for a God who loves me with an everlasting love and is willing to allow His son to die to save me and bring me into His kingdom as a brother and heir to the King.  Yes,Ihave so much to be thankful for and I hope that tomorrow I will get the opportunity  to express it.

Making Progress

I’m sitting here tonight with two cars in the garage.  I also have the golf cart, my Harley and two bicycles in there as well.  This is the first time since I moved my stuff down that we have been able to get both cars in the garage.  I know it doesn’t sound like much, but it really is a big accomplishment.  When I started this afternoon. I didn’t know where I was going to put everything.  I certainly didn’t expect to be able to get the second car in tonight.  But I just kept at it.  I moved everything that I wasn’t using to the basement.  I was able to get the pressure washer and the lawnmower under the house in the crawl space,  Then I was able to break down all the cardboard boxes except the ones that I have stuff in,

So, it really did all come together easier than I thought it would happen.  But when you think about it, my garage is something like my life.  It gets scattered and cluttered with other people’s agenda’s and meetings.  Then you begin to get bogged in what other people think and what their issues are.  We as leaders have to learn that we can’t do anything alone.  Someone is always there willing to help us, and they normally have answers that we haven’t even thought of yet.  We have to be willing to open our selves up.  Sometimes that is a hard thing to do, especially when you have been hurt before. 

But at the same time we have to realize that our focus is primary. We can’t let the needs of others and their agenda cause us to lose focus on what and why we want to do something.  Today, it was my focus on the task at hand that caused me to succeed.  I had to keep focus on cleaning out the garage and moving boxes,  In live, there are two many other ways to do what I need to do.  I have to seek His guidance and then proceed as if it were the only answer, 

You also can’t just work.  You have to mix life into your schedule.  And by live, I mean fun life.  This afternoon, I got out the golf cart that I had spent so much time getting a place for it to be parked in the garage.  We grabbed the map and went out on an adventure.  We wanted to go to Kedron Village.  That’s a shopping area that has Target; Kroger; Bed, Bath and Beyond and many more shops.  It was definitely an adventure on the cart paths, and then it was an even greater adventure coming home on the paths in the dark.  We did make it back, and it was a fun adventure.  That is what you can expect.  We need to make sure we schedule some down time in the spiritual as well. 

So, even though I had an A period, today was really tired tonight it was a great time.  I have learned to rest in the midst of chaos.  That is why I am able to continue on less sleep.  I know that I need sleep, don’t get me wrong.  It’s just that I can do without if necessary as long as I can remain at rest and in a state of peace.  Sure, I sometimes get knocked out of this state.  Everybody does!  But I know that if I can settle back into His peace, then life will move on, and we will be able to move into a deeper relationship with the Father.

A Week Off

Wow, it’s good to be home tonight.  We have this week off for Thanksgiving and there is no school tonight or tomorrow.  We also have no staff meetings, so I was able to get some much needed work done around the house today and I also got out to do a run.  Then we were able to get over to see Dad and Allene for a little while.  So all in all, it was a very good day.  I do work early tomorrow, but that is the only time I work this week.  I guess we have to begin to get ready for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow.  We are having about 16 people over.  Lacey, Scott and the kids and also Hector, Terri and their family along with a few students that don’t have anywhere to go for thanksgiving.  It should be a good day.  Still I wish I could see all the kids.  But that is impossible.

The holidays are fast approaching and it’s hard to believe it will be Christmas so soon.  What to get everyone, that is the question.  I know that in many ways the holidays are going to be different.  Last Christmas, I was able to get the whole family together.  We needed that and it was so good.  This year we will be scattered, and I know that it will be harder for the girls not to be together.  It will be harder for me too, but we will get to see them both.  They won’t be able to spend time together.  I am going to ask Lisa to make the coconut cake for Christmas while we are there, but it won’t be the same without Jennifer being there too.

Well, I don’t have anything profound to say tonight, just thinking about amily and Christmas.  I do have an A period in the morning, so I think that I will go to bed and get at least 5 hours sleep.  Maybe I will be more inspired tomorrow.

What is My Focus?

I think that this is a question that we all need to ask ourselves periodically.  It is evident to me that day to day living can easily get me off the main focus of my life.  In fact, over the past month or so it probably has.  It probably began when we started packing to move Sheryl out of her place into the house here, and it increased exponentially when we started packing my stuff. I know what my focus should be, but I also realize that I have been off focus for a few weeks. When we get off focus, our lives get out of balance and that is not a good thing.   I believe that my focus is in three main parts. 

First and foremost, my focus needs to be on my own relationship with my Father.  Papa as I like to refer to Him is good and is in a good mood.  But He desires intimacy in relationships.  He desires my sole attention to hear and hang out with Him.  That is why I was made, and to get off focus can be really disastrous because I miss everything that He wants to give me.  I need it all, and by missing His love, I am robbed of a great treasure.

Secondly I need to refocus on my wife and then my family.  It is so easy to be doing instead of being.  This move has had me so busy along with work, that I haven’t been able to spend the quality time that I need to spend with any of them.  Plus, distance keeps us far, far apart.  I’ve only been married for not quite four months, and I still have a great deal of focus on our relationship.  But it is too easy to get distracted with all the things that need doing. 

It’s easy for me to allow my focus to drift to all the things that need to be done instead of who they need to be done for.  I have to gain perspective on all the things that still need to be done.  The key is remembering why they need to be done.  Who will it impact if I slow down?  What do I need to have accomplished?  The answers can help rearrange my day on the fly. 

Part of my focus has to be on my work and ministry, but this is not where life comes.  It’s where I can give life to others.  My life comes from my relationships.   It’s life that helps me finish my blog and get to bed at a decent hour.  My work sometimes gets in the way of my life.  I know that has been very true, especially in the past few weeks.  So, today as I write this, I have had a time to refocus.  We all need to do this periodically.