As The Weekend Nears…-Jan.11, 2008

This is not a revelation or anything but, I wanted you all to know that today is Friday. FRIDAY! Did you hear me? This is the end of another workweek and the hope of a quiet weekend. Honestly, if things go according to plans, Logan and I will be putting up the one wall and sheetrock for my new office. I don't anticipate it being hard but when it comes to Do-It-Yourself projects I get butterflies. This is not because I don't know what I'm doing, I don't, but because I don't want the end product to look like I don't know what I'm doing.

Actually, I am feeling pretty good about it and it will be fun to work with and teach, Logan. (Is this a GOOD idea??)

We almost have the room cleaned out and I started taking the old workbench apart. Once the bench is apart it will give us more room and I will be able to use some of the wood from the bench to add some shelves or something. I am excited to get it done and I really haven't started yet!

The creation of this office space is just a jumping off place for what I really want to happen here: Study\Writing. I just have to get thorough the building process first.

I am going to try very hard to remember to take pictures so you can see the progress, this should really spice up this blog and I may even have to move it onto its own server because the number of hits I'll get will be so great that I will bring the blogger site to its knees! HA! HA! HA!

Seriously, you all who have pictures on your site are the coolest people I know not to mention sooo tech savvy and your sites look sooo cool!

 

I want you all to enjoy your weekend and remember that each new day is a gift that God has given you and only He can give it. Grace upon grace, as the rain falls on all of our weary souls. Rejoice in the Lord always!

 

So long!

Date Fix—Jan. 9, 2008

It looks as though I have lost my mind! I thought today was the 8^th and it appears I am a day behind. So here is the fix: When you look at the dates of the last two blogs change the 8 to a 9 in your mind! LOL!

Thoughts In The New Year—Jan. 8, 2008

 

 

I had intended to write this at the beginning of the New Year but as I wrote and then read what I wrote, I did not like it so I abandoned it. Here is another attempt.

Today I read my friend's blog, he wrote about Yancey's view of living within our circumstances, and it triggered within me a reminder of how we are to live even if our circumstances are not what we would consider "ideal".

The past year was one that I am so glad is now behind me. Kim and I went through so much last year that, at least for me, rivaled the year Grady died. It was tough and we are still dealing with some fallout from the things that God took us through last year. Stress was a constant companion although we put on a good public face! It is good to be on the other side now. Circumstances came into play in a huge way and I believe we learned to look more to God than we ever had. I hate that we have to go through those things to learn what we should already know and practice but that is the way of it.

One thing I did last year was to take a hard look at all the ministry things I was involved in and assess what God would have me do. I did not do this lightly. I prayed and I sought godly council from several men of the church and when I came out on the other side I had removed about half the things I was involved with and the burden of that lifted off my heart. What a great praise! I would encourage all of you to do a "ministry survey" if you're feeling stressed, because maybe God is trying to tell you something. I think it's as much a sin to do too much as to do too little. You simply can't put your best foot forward and God always wants our best.

A new year.

I don't do "resolutions" per se, but there is something about that flip of the calendar, seeing the fresh new year that causes me to look at my life and say that I want to do something fresh and new in the New Year. I had goals set for last year but they fizzled shortly after takeoff but I learned from last year and I like to think that maybe I have grown some as well. This year I would like to ignite my desires into full-fledged passion and writing is on the top of the list. When I TALK about writing my heart races and my imagination soars, but I have tanked when it comes to writing what I really want to write and I want that to change this year. I know I have learned more about the craft and I plan, with the new tool that will be at my disposal, to get more writing done, Lord willing.

I also hope to drop a few pounds and spend some time with one of our new pastors. I have found it most enjoyable to talk with him about spiritual things and it seems as though he would be willing to go hikin' and talkin', one of my favorite things! (Yes I KNOW it looks like there are two activities listed here but when I am doing these activities, they mesh into one! Hey! YOU came to MY blog so deal with it! I can call two one if I want to!) LOL!

Ok I don't want to burn your eyes with the first blog in over two months but once I get started I have a hard time stopping! Bye for now!

A New Tool for A New Year--Jan. 8, 2008

So I'm looking back on the blog situation and I noticed my last post was…A LONG time ago! Bad me! NEVERTHELESS, I have not been idol! In fact, I have a neat little freeware program called "Keynote" that I use to journal almost every day. I have titled these missives "Greg's Psalms" because I pour all (I do mean ALL) my inner self into those. The design is for my eyes alone until after I go Home so I'm not too concerned.

 

I have been working with some new ideas in the story-writing arena and I am getting a new tool that I am hoping will help me to get more productive.

 

One thing that is distracting to me is the fact that when I sit down to write, I have a lot of stuff that I need and it gets scattered about my work area. Once I finish up for the session I can't just go away but I have to refocus on cleaning up and then start over the next time. This is all because my lovely wife insists on using the kitchen table for meals as well. It's most inconsiderate of her!

 

Well, there is now a solution to the problem! I have been granted, by the same wife noted above, a six foot by six foot area in our "catch-all" room to create an office space of my very own! (Greg, I wish you were closer! I would love your help on this one!) I am putting up a wall to create a cubbyhole and then I am going to make a wrap around desk that will encompass all three walls with the front left open. I will add a few shelves for books and the final phase, oh, fifteen or twenty years from now, I will add a laptop of my own! (Sound like a good idea, Kelly?)

 

My budget is about two hundred-fifty dollars and I have been watching HGTV so I have all I need! (Except the power tools! GR-E-E-E-G!)LOL!

 

Now whether I'm preparing a Sunday school lesson or actually writing I can spread out and I don't have to clean up! I will be ready for the next session and I can get to work.

 

I will try to remember to post some pictures of the progress and the final product.

 

 

 

Dreams From God of Peace – Nov. 9, 2007

I'd like to open by saying that I don't put a lot of stock in my dreams.

I mean that the dreams I have at night don't lead me to some cosmic logic or mystic knowledge or __________ (fill in the blank).

I believe God, at one time did use dreams and maybe once in a while He'll send us a bit of peace through a dream, but overall I am not convinced dreams are all that valuable.

Having said all of that I love my dreams! For the most part they are exciting and just real enough to prevent me from getting a good night's sleep. (Well, maybe that last one is not so much a benefit but the dreams are cool!)

There have been so many times I wish I could have written my dreams down as they are happening or, even better, had a video recording of those wild and wacky dreams.

I consider my dreams a blessing. In fact, I have learned to ask God nightly to protect my dreams so that sin will not run rampant in them as they can in my waking life. For the most part He answers those prayers. My dreams are usually pretty pure and just plain fun!

There are dreams that I have that are special in such a way as to be remembered for many years. One particular dream does not have any special feature that makes it extra ordinary but there are dreams that just stick out in my mind. Last night was one of those nights I considered a great blessing.

I dreamed that Grady was alive, still five years old and I had time to spend with him.

He was running around doing things and generally just being happy.

Kim was there and for some reason she was pretty neutral about him being around. (It was a dream after all!) Grady also was fairly neutral about being around. He seemed to enjoy our time together but he also was distracted by the activities he was involved with.

It's really hard to describe but I woke up after this dream feeling so happy to have seen Grady. I was not sad but glad.

Again I don't think this meant anything other than a time God gave me to be with Grady…a peace from God.
It was so fun to see him running around just like I remember!

…

Yes, a blessing from God.

I feel sad sometimes when I think about seeing Grady in heaven because one person I know believes when we are in heaven we will be perfect (I agree) and that means all of us will be in an adult form. I am not sad because of seeing Grady but because I still want to see him in the form I remember: him at five years old.

I held on to this belief about him being in adult form until lately as I've been reading the book of 1 Thessalonians.

In there, Paul tries to encourage the people of Thessalonica by telling them that the dead in Christ will be raised from the grave and beat us to heaven. As I look at that the conclusion that I come to is that the bodies that are in the grave are the ones the dead will rise in, although perfected.

I fully realize that I could be wrong on this and I don't mention it to stir up debate, it really is not important in the long haul, but what it does is just give me a tiny bit of comfort in this one ache in my heart.

If I get to heaven and Grady is a six foot three bronzed statue of a man I will rejoice greatly, but there is a part of me that hopes that I will still see the little four foot, five year old waiting to give me a big hug!

 

Keep fighting the good fight!

A Word of Encouragement

About a month ago I signed up on a website (for free!) that allows me to enter short stories (150-750 words) in a contest. I don't enter the contests to win but as another avenue to improve my writing. (I will say you do have to win to move onto the next level though) There is a new writing prompt each week and I have now submitted two stories. If you have taken the time to read my bio you will remember that some good friends of mine encouraged me to start wrtiting a couple fo years ago. I have messed around with it since then and and have a lot of, well, nothing. Oh, I do have some story ideas in that heap but nothing that I have really put my heart into but I have enjoyed the process. The real problem is that I have not been diligent with my writing. To improve in anything you attempt takes practice. Though I don't believe that you will become perfect if you practice enough I do believe you will imporve, getting better with each passing day. This is where I think my problem is, I am holding myself back by not being consistant with writing. With this said I have been looking for ways that will encourage me to write more so that I can imporve. The answer has been FatihWriters.com. It is free and easy and you get wonderful feed back from other participants. As Imentioned I have submitted two articles and have had very nice comments back from other writers and this has been a great encouragement to me! Two things I have noticed about these two submissions: 1) I have been passionate about them, they touched me personally and deeply in one way or another; 2) I have been able to improve from one submission to another. My latest submission, "A Glass of Milk With God" picked up the best "reveiews I have had so far and I can;t tell you how this excites me and motivates me to do better! If you are interested in improving your writing or just getting more exposure to your writing in a non-threatening way, check out FaithWriters.com! It is worth the effort! Keep fighting the good fight! Bye

Grace on Display -- Sept. 21, 2007

Each one of us on this little blue ball in space is a recipient of God's grace. "He makes the rain fall on the just and the unjust"... However, there are times when we seem to need a extra special injection of love and grace and when we get it it's like being reborn!

I am not talking about salvation from the spiritual sense here; I am talking about being a believer and being in a position that requires nothing more than grace and love.

This year my family and I have been on a roller coaster ride of proportions that we have not seen since Grady died, some five and a half years ago! Stress crept in as a serpent in the garden early and often this year and each time God, in His timing, displayed His grace and mercy through willing servants who modeled God's grace and mercy.

I always want to be a blessing to someone else but this year I have been the Jerry Rice of grace, the receiver. In fact, when I have tried to be the quarterback, the play turned into a flea flicker and I received the "ball" again! (See my blog on Grandma Vi.)

I have come to the realization that there are times when you can be used as a blessing in someone else's life but there are times when you are the one who receives the goodness of others.

To be honest, what I have gained, what I have been shown and have learned through these anxious times, by seeing the men and women of God come along side and demonstrate in incredible ways, God's grace and love, far outweighs any material benefit we have received.

When God moves the mountains we have created in our lives due to stress, sin, or whatever has caused us to be in the distressed place we are in, melts in the heat of His love and grace and the freedom we then have is, indeed, beyond what we thought possible.

I will leave you with this thought, piece of advice or whatever you would like to think of it as. Do with it as you will but please give it some thought:

 

Don't be too proud or fearful to seek help or guidance in troubling matters. We are not made to be islands nor are we made to bear our burdens alone. God's grace, in His timing, is a cool soothing rain during periods of drought in one's soul. He can move on His own but He likes to work through His servants. And who knows, maybe one day God will use you to demonstrate His grace to someone else! That is the true blessing!

 

Lord, Allow all of us to see Your grace in action and so move in our hearts that we would be willing and able to be used of You in others lives in return!

Thank You.

 

Good bye for now and may God's grace shine upon you in wonderful ways!