If you have been keeping up with my facebook account, you'll know that Trina and I are in Colorado on vacation. Yesterday was our 10th anniversary. It's been a great 10 years.
We've been having fun up here, driving around, looking at sights. On Tuesday, we went white water rafting. It was fun but my body is still paying the price for it. I think part of it is the lingering effects of the car crash on Sunday where my back in sending little jolts up electricity up my spine nearly everytime I sit down. Of course, this may be aggrevated from when I broke my tail bone some 4 years ago and it may have set wrong -- but what do I do about that? In reality, I need to get some of the pressure off my back by losing some of the weight up front.
But back to white water rafting. It was fun. It was interesting putting your well being into the hands of someone else who is experienced, but in reality, is just as likely to fall out as anyone else. In fact, we had a three rafts of guide trainees with us and one of the trainees fell out of the raft. By the grace of God, Trina and I stayed in the raft. Of course, when we ended, I could barely stand up with my hip feeling like I was Jacob after wrestling with God and had to walk with a limp from then on. I think I'll heal though.
Yesterday, June 3rd, our anniversary, was by far our busiest day out here. We started up waking up at way too early in the morning and then leaving our room about 7 am. We drove down a couple of windy Colorado mountain highways with many beautiful sites along the road, until we finally emptied out of the mountains into Boulder. It was like... poof! You're in Boulder.
In Boulder, we went to the Celestrial Seasons Tea Factory. It was a good tour but not quite up to Jelly Belly standards. Of course, the Peppermint room was mind blowing -- or more like senses blowing. It invaded every sense with it's strength.
After the factory, we started looking for Mile High Comics. One of my friends told me it was in Boulder, so we looked it up on our phone and headed to Denver. This lead us to... their distribution warehouse. Oops. So we drove around Denver. We drove downtown, saw Coors Field (Rockies), then through downtown where I had my first geek-out moment of the day -- we passed through the intersection of Colifax and Broadway, made famous to me by the Five Iron Frenzy song, "From 0 to 15". Around the capital building, through downtown, and then to Invesco Field at Mile High (Broncos). We ended up taking a stadium tour (second geek-out moment) which lasted about an hour and got to walk down to the field (Staying off the grass.) Cool pictures to be posted later.
Spending some time in the team store, we finally took off on our quest to find a brick and mortar Mile High Comics store. We finally found it. It was ok. The guy behind the counter was saying they really do most of their business online now so none of the 4 B&M stores are too big anymore. But it was cool to find it. It looked like... a comic book store.
So we started considering dinner. My sister recommended a place that she saw on Man vs. Food called, "The Buckhorn Exchange Restaurant". So we found it. It is in the projects of Denver now. The building looks 117 yeas old. It was 4:30 and dinner service started at 5:30. So around 5 we head in (after 45 minutes of driving through Denver looking at houses and a lake.) We go in and they require reservations. Bummer. So we go upstairs to look at the saloon. I end up going back down and asking about how long reservations should be in advance. He tells me between 24-48 hours, but since it was just the two of us, he'd sneak us in. I didn't even need to play the anniversary card.
Let me say that this was, by far, absolutely the best restaurant I have ever eaten in. The menu looks like an old newspaper with a bunch of the history of the restaurant. The walls are lined with pictures of people who have eaten here, guns, mounted heads and full body animals, stories of Wild Bill Cody and Teddy Roosevelt, and history. Amazing. Then the two person steak came out. By far the best steak I've ever had. The buffalo noodle soup was fantastic. If you come to Denver just for this restaurant, you've made a good trip. Wow.
So now, it's Friday and I'm waiting for Laundry to dry. After the full day yesterday, now we are resting until we go drive trail ridge road up in the Rockies. Sounds like fun.
The problem with vacations is that they end way too early, but I am looking forward to seeing my kids again. Still, I have been enjoying my wife. Marriage is good.
The Family
The extended family
Friday, June 4, 2010
Sunday, May 30, 2010
RIP And Awards
I never even named her. She was reliable. She was fun to drive. She had a bed that did lots of work. She was my truck. It was a 2002 GMC Sonoma, SLS and she is no longer in my care. She has gone to meet the great GEICO in the sky.
We were in an accident this afternoon. We were turning left across a four lane road (2 each side). There was no turn lane. On the other said of the road, there was a car turning left to go the opposite way we were heading. It looked clear. As we turned, another car suddenly appeared in the next lane. I don't think it zoomed and changed lanes. It was just in my blind spot hiding behind the car turning. And it hit us. Right in the passenger side front tire area. The truck is totaled. Trina bumped her head on the window but seems to be ok. My truck, though, is gone.
I'm ok. I was laughing and talking on the phone shortly after the accident. Fun stuff.
Well, God knows what he is doing though. Of course, 6 hours later now, I am sore.
We were out getting ready for an AWANA awards night. This is a celebration of what God has done this year in the lives of these kids who have been studying His Word. It was a very good ceremony. I almost cried only once tonight while preaching, so that's a good thing. I'm going to see if I can throw the sermon up here somewhere as an attachment if you want to read it. I did steal the idea from Raising a Modern Day Joseph, a book by Larry Fowler that really has revolutionized the way I am raising my kids. But God worked tonight.
We had one kid who finished every book that AWANA has for grades 3-12 grade this year. In fact, he pushed, studied, struggled and stayed motivated to learn all the verses, 1000 of them, from the 14 books in 2 months. That's motivating.
We are on our way out of town for a week in 10 hours. It should be a good week in Colorado if I am not as sore as I am now. A week of vacation is just what the doctor ordered.
RIP my poor Sonoma. I figured out what I want to pray for now. I am praying for another GMC Sonoma, stick shift, green this time with an extended cab. So, if you know of anyone giving this truck away for God, let me know.
We were in an accident this afternoon. We were turning left across a four lane road (2 each side). There was no turn lane. On the other said of the road, there was a car turning left to go the opposite way we were heading. It looked clear. As we turned, another car suddenly appeared in the next lane. I don't think it zoomed and changed lanes. It was just in my blind spot hiding behind the car turning. And it hit us. Right in the passenger side front tire area. The truck is totaled. Trina bumped her head on the window but seems to be ok. My truck, though, is gone.
I'm ok. I was laughing and talking on the phone shortly after the accident. Fun stuff.
Well, God knows what he is doing though. Of course, 6 hours later now, I am sore.
We were out getting ready for an AWANA awards night. This is a celebration of what God has done this year in the lives of these kids who have been studying His Word. It was a very good ceremony. I almost cried only once tonight while preaching, so that's a good thing. I'm going to see if I can throw the sermon up here somewhere as an attachment if you want to read it. I did steal the idea from Raising a Modern Day Joseph, a book by Larry Fowler that really has revolutionized the way I am raising my kids. But God worked tonight.
We had one kid who finished every book that AWANA has for grades 3-12 grade this year. In fact, he pushed, studied, struggled and stayed motivated to learn all the verses, 1000 of them, from the 14 books in 2 months. That's motivating.
We are on our way out of town for a week in 10 hours. It should be a good week in Colorado if I am not as sore as I am now. A week of vacation is just what the doctor ordered.
RIP my poor Sonoma. I figured out what I want to pray for now. I am praying for another GMC Sonoma, stick shift, green this time with an extended cab. So, if you know of anyone giving this truck away for God, let me know.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
You Make Every New Day Seem So New
Just recently, my favorite group of all time released a documentary of their career. It is called, "The Rise and Fall of Five Iron Frenzy." If you are a fan of FIF, you have to go out and get it. The main disk is a 3 hour documentary going year by year of what was happening with the band. It is a great documentary. But the part that any FIF fan has to get is the bonus disk, which has 5 music videos, a bunch of short films that they band did in their spare time just to have fun and most importantly, 3 live concerts -- including the live 2 hour concert from the Filmore in Denver, CO in November, 2003 -- the band's final show.
If you were to ask me my favorite song of all time, it is a FIF song. It's the first song on the music player below called, "Every New Day" and it is their final song of every concert played. If I'm in the right mood, it'll make me cry. It makes me want to get up and jump around. It makes me scream, "HA HA!" as loud as I can when I'm driving down the road to sing along. It is the definitive song of my life.
I grew up with Five Iron Frenzy. I didn't realize how much I grew up with them until they came out with the song, "I May Be Old (But At Least I'm Not Like All Those Other Old Guys)" In it, he mentions that he's 29 years old -- the same age I was when I first heard the song. It's amazing how their songs move right along with my life. It's like you could play the CD's along as a sound track for my life. But in the end, there's always "Every New Day." No matter how bad it gets, no matter how lost I seemed, God was always there making every new day seem so new. He was giving me a new hope.
I do go through my phases with them on my playlist but I still find it amazing that songs I loved in my young 20's are still relevant, still tug at my heart, make me laugh, cry, dance, sing, yell, skank and enjoy life. The power of music, but more important, I believe, is that it is the power of God working through a group of 8 kids in Denver, Colorado who went through struggles, doubts, disbelief, love, breakups, and the normal, everyday things that I went through (me without the pink hair.) So these 7 years after Five Iron Frenzy broke up, I get to watch their concerts on DVD and reminiscence on a simpler time in life where I lived and had a soundtrack.
Make sure you listen to "Every New Day" below.
"Every New Day"
Lyrics:
When I was young, the smallest trick of light,
Could catch my eye,
Then life was new and every new day,
I thought that I could fly.
I believed in what I hoped for,
And I hoped for things unseen,
I had wings and dreams could soar,
I just don't feel like flying anymore.
When the stars threw down their spears,
Watered Heaven with their tears,
Before words were spoken,
Before eternity.
Dear Father, I need you,
Your strength my heart to mend.
I want to fly higher,
Every new day again.
When I was small, the furthest I could reach,
Was not so high,
Then I thought the world was so much smaller,
Feeling that I could fly.
Through distant deeps and skies,
Behind infinity,
Below the face of Heaven,
He stoops to create me.
Dear Father, I need you,
Your strength my heart to mend.
I want to fly higher,
Every new day again.
Man versus himself.
Man versus machine.
Man versus the world.
Mankind versus me.
The struggles go on,
The wisdom I lack,
The burdens keep pilling
Up on my back.
So hard to breathe,
To take the next step.
The mountain is high,
I wait in the depths.
Yearning for grace,
And hoping for peace.
Dear God...
Increase.
Healing hands of God have mercy on our unclean souls once again.
Jesus Christ, light of the world burning bright within our hearts
forever.
Freedom means love without condition, without a beginning or an end.
Here's my heart, let it be forever Yours,
Only You can make every new day seem so new.
If you were to ask me my favorite song of all time, it is a FIF song. It's the first song on the music player below called, "Every New Day" and it is their final song of every concert played. If I'm in the right mood, it'll make me cry. It makes me want to get up and jump around. It makes me scream, "HA HA!" as loud as I can when I'm driving down the road to sing along. It is the definitive song of my life.
I grew up with Five Iron Frenzy. I didn't realize how much I grew up with them until they came out with the song, "I May Be Old (But At Least I'm Not Like All Those Other Old Guys)" In it, he mentions that he's 29 years old -- the same age I was when I first heard the song. It's amazing how their songs move right along with my life. It's like you could play the CD's along as a sound track for my life. But in the end, there's always "Every New Day." No matter how bad it gets, no matter how lost I seemed, God was always there making every new day seem so new. He was giving me a new hope.
I do go through my phases with them on my playlist but I still find it amazing that songs I loved in my young 20's are still relevant, still tug at my heart, make me laugh, cry, dance, sing, yell, skank and enjoy life. The power of music, but more important, I believe, is that it is the power of God working through a group of 8 kids in Denver, Colorado who went through struggles, doubts, disbelief, love, breakups, and the normal, everyday things that I went through (me without the pink hair.) So these 7 years after Five Iron Frenzy broke up, I get to watch their concerts on DVD and reminiscence on a simpler time in life where I lived and had a soundtrack.
Make sure you listen to "Every New Day" below.
"Every New Day"
Lyrics:
When I was young, the smallest trick of light,
Could catch my eye,
Then life was new and every new day,
I thought that I could fly.
I believed in what I hoped for,
And I hoped for things unseen,
I had wings and dreams could soar,
I just don't feel like flying anymore.
When the stars threw down their spears,
Watered Heaven with their tears,
Before words were spoken,
Before eternity.
Dear Father, I need you,
Your strength my heart to mend.
I want to fly higher,
Every new day again.
When I was small, the furthest I could reach,
Was not so high,
Then I thought the world was so much smaller,
Feeling that I could fly.
Through distant deeps and skies,
Behind infinity,
Below the face of Heaven,
He stoops to create me.
Dear Father, I need you,
Your strength my heart to mend.
I want to fly higher,
Every new day again.
Man versus himself.
Man versus machine.
Man versus the world.
Mankind versus me.
The struggles go on,
The wisdom I lack,
The burdens keep pilling
Up on my back.
So hard to breathe,
To take the next step.
The mountain is high,
I wait in the depths.
Yearning for grace,
And hoping for peace.
Dear God...
Increase.
Healing hands of God have mercy on our unclean souls once again.
Jesus Christ, light of the world burning bright within our hearts
forever.
Freedom means love without condition, without a beginning or an end.
Here's my heart, let it be forever Yours,
Only You can make every new day seem so new.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Protection
This morning, I read Psalm 91 before I start working on my sermon for Sunday Night as a devotional time. Psalm 91 is written by Moses and covers how God protects his own. Two of the verses in Psalm 91, verses 11-12, are verses that Satan twists around to tempt Jesus to jump from the top of the temple to see if God will protect him from hurting himself - to which Jesus replies that we are not to test God.
I look back in my life to see the protection that God has afforded me. I probably don't see the physical protection as much because I didn't get into those auto accidents, or have near misses to great bodily harm that I see. I do see how God, through the years of being a prodigal son, has protected me from activity that would cause me to be ineffective in any ministry or with my family. I don't know if it is a normal teenage thing, but boy, when I was 17, I would have loved to hook up with a girl and be immoral. I don't think I could have gone through with it because of the guilt associated with it, as well as the Holy Spirit prodding me to steer clear. His protection was with me.
I spent 4 years in the Navy with some rather Navy-like guys, even in a chaplain's department. For 3 of those years, I was the designated walker, staying with my friends in the bar to make sure they made it back safe, especially in foreign countries. God kept me out of the bottle and ruining my life that way. His protection was with me.
I remember walking around the United Arab Emirates by myself in the middle of the day just checking out the town of Dubai in 1994. I walked around Mazatlan by myself. I walked around Singapore, Perth, Hobart, Honolulu, Hong Kong, Ecuador, Panama City by myself numerous times. I walked in Philadelphia at ten at night through the South side looking at stuff from the Rocky movie by myself. Through all this, I was not by myself apparently. His protection was with me and kept me from harm, from being on a tape with terrorist, from getting lost (too badly) and from falling and injuring myself. God has protected me all my life, through when I was walking with him and when I was trying to run away.
Looking back at the protection God has granted me all these years, I can't help but wonder about the plans God continues to have for my life. There is more to this life for me than food, sleep and computer. I pray that God refills me, my energy, my excitement, my passion and uses me for His glory.
I look back in my life to see the protection that God has afforded me. I probably don't see the physical protection as much because I didn't get into those auto accidents, or have near misses to great bodily harm that I see. I do see how God, through the years of being a prodigal son, has protected me from activity that would cause me to be ineffective in any ministry or with my family. I don't know if it is a normal teenage thing, but boy, when I was 17, I would have loved to hook up with a girl and be immoral. I don't think I could have gone through with it because of the guilt associated with it, as well as the Holy Spirit prodding me to steer clear. His protection was with me.
I spent 4 years in the Navy with some rather Navy-like guys, even in a chaplain's department. For 3 of those years, I was the designated walker, staying with my friends in the bar to make sure they made it back safe, especially in foreign countries. God kept me out of the bottle and ruining my life that way. His protection was with me.
I remember walking around the United Arab Emirates by myself in the middle of the day just checking out the town of Dubai in 1994. I walked around Mazatlan by myself. I walked around Singapore, Perth, Hobart, Honolulu, Hong Kong, Ecuador, Panama City by myself numerous times. I walked in Philadelphia at ten at night through the South side looking at stuff from the Rocky movie by myself. Through all this, I was not by myself apparently. His protection was with me and kept me from harm, from being on a tape with terrorist, from getting lost (too badly) and from falling and injuring myself. God has protected me all my life, through when I was walking with him and when I was trying to run away.
Looking back at the protection God has granted me all these years, I can't help but wonder about the plans God continues to have for my life. There is more to this life for me than food, sleep and computer. I pray that God refills me, my energy, my excitement, my passion and uses me for His glory.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Vacation
Today is my last day of work. For eleven days. I am taking 6 days of vacation to get 11 days off. That's a nice deal. It helps that there are 2 weekends and Memorial day in there, but it's very nice. During this time, we are leaving the kids with grandma and my wife and I are taking our first prolonged, alone vacation ever. We had a one day honeymoon because she had to be back at work on Monday since she was on probation with her new job. We took a week vacation a few years back where we spent 3 days at a hotel across the street from Disneyland with the kids (2 at this point), then spent a day at home on staycation, then drove up to San Francisco for 2 days of alone vacation. This one, we are getting away from it all. Leave on Monday, come back Sunday night.
Next Thursday will be our 10th anniversary. It's been bliss. It's been blisters. It's been an adventure. And now we are rewarding ourselves for the journey thus far, and hopefully strengthening our marriage for the next 63 years. (When I originally asked Trina to marry me, I asked her for the next 75 years, so when I'm 98, we have to get remarried. I hope it will be ok that I'll be marrying a 93 year old hottie and not robbing the cradle.)
So, my plan is pretty much radio silence next week while we are gone. If you don't hear from me for a week, know that I am ok and enjoying myself and enjoying my wife. Thank you for helping us make it for the last 10 years and we look forward to the rest of our lives together, growing, raising our kids, and falling more and more in love with each other.
My daughter is trying to read this. That is the problem with teaching kids how to read. You can't keep things as secret anymore. The problem really comes when you can't spell things out over their head anymore. Then it's a matter of talking away from them so they can't hear the planning stages but still get the full effect of the outcome :)
Next Thursday will be our 10th anniversary. It's been bliss. It's been blisters. It's been an adventure. And now we are rewarding ourselves for the journey thus far, and hopefully strengthening our marriage for the next 63 years. (When I originally asked Trina to marry me, I asked her for the next 75 years, so when I'm 98, we have to get remarried. I hope it will be ok that I'll be marrying a 93 year old hottie and not robbing the cradle.)
So, my plan is pretty much radio silence next week while we are gone. If you don't hear from me for a week, know that I am ok and enjoying myself and enjoying my wife. Thank you for helping us make it for the last 10 years and we look forward to the rest of our lives together, growing, raising our kids, and falling more and more in love with each other.
My daughter is trying to read this. That is the problem with teaching kids how to read. You can't keep things as secret anymore. The problem really comes when you can't spell things out over their head anymore. Then it's a matter of talking away from them so they can't hear the planning stages but still get the full effect of the outcome :)
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
The End of the World as We Know It
Well, to qualify this post, let me start off with a verse.
1 Corinthians 9:25-27 (Amplified Bible)
25Now every athlete who goes into training conducts himself temperately and restricts himself in all things. They do it to win a wreath that will soon wither, but we [do it to receive a crown of eternal blessedness] that cannot wither.
26Therefore I do not run uncertainly (without definite aim). I do not box like one beating the air and striking without an adversary.
27But [like a boxer] I buffet my body [handle it roughly, discipline it by hardships] and subdue it, for fear that after proclaiming to others the Gospel and things pertaining to it, I myself should become unfit [not stand the test, be unapproved and rejected as a counterfeit].
Ok, 3 verses.
I'm fat. I have actually got up to 300 pounds lately and it's not good. I tried walking up a hill this weekend and couldn't make it since I was weezing and too tired to make it. This was a hill I made it up just 4 years ago. My body hasn't deteriorated that much in 4 years to make it so I couldn't make it -- it's because my extra weight. It is time to start buffeting my body and bring it under submission. It just isn't about the weight though. It is about my love affair with food to the point of food being my idol.
I am going to take an experiment. I believe I must have an intolerance to dairy because I will eat some cheese or drink milk and not too long later, my insides are all torn to pieces. But I have dealt with that because I love the taste of cheese. Cheese is #4 on my list of favorite food. #1 is shrimp. #2 is pineapple. #3 is cheesecake and #4 is cheese. Yes, I have thought about this.
So to see if I do have lactose intolerance, I am going to seriously cut the amount of cheese I eat to almost nothing if not out all together. It is time to start disciplining my body and make it slave instead of me being the slave of my hungers and desires.
In time, if this experiment works and my insides are spared the racing, I may end up starting to take LactAid or whatever else lactose assistance pills, but I'll self-diagnose first. That's something else I'll have to work on later. After all, Luke was a doctor.
I need to start walking again at work.
1 Corinthians 9:25-27 (Amplified Bible)
25Now every athlete who goes into training conducts himself temperately and restricts himself in all things. They do it to win a wreath that will soon wither, but we [do it to receive a crown of eternal blessedness] that cannot wither.
26Therefore I do not run uncertainly (without definite aim). I do not box like one beating the air and striking without an adversary.
27But [like a boxer] I buffet my body [handle it roughly, discipline it by hardships] and subdue it, for fear that after proclaiming to others the Gospel and things pertaining to it, I myself should become unfit [not stand the test, be unapproved and rejected as a counterfeit].
Ok, 3 verses.
I'm fat. I have actually got up to 300 pounds lately and it's not good. I tried walking up a hill this weekend and couldn't make it since I was weezing and too tired to make it. This was a hill I made it up just 4 years ago. My body hasn't deteriorated that much in 4 years to make it so I couldn't make it -- it's because my extra weight. It is time to start buffeting my body and bring it under submission. It just isn't about the weight though. It is about my love affair with food to the point of food being my idol.
I am going to take an experiment. I believe I must have an intolerance to dairy because I will eat some cheese or drink milk and not too long later, my insides are all torn to pieces. But I have dealt with that because I love the taste of cheese. Cheese is #4 on my list of favorite food. #1 is shrimp. #2 is pineapple. #3 is cheesecake and #4 is cheese. Yes, I have thought about this.
So to see if I do have lactose intolerance, I am going to seriously cut the amount of cheese I eat to almost nothing if not out all together. It is time to start disciplining my body and make it slave instead of me being the slave of my hungers and desires.
In time, if this experiment works and my insides are spared the racing, I may end up starting to take LactAid or whatever else lactose assistance pills, but I'll self-diagnose first. That's something else I'll have to work on later. After all, Luke was a doctor.
I need to start walking again at work.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Has it been a year? Really?
Wow, I just read my last post and I'm confused by it. What was I talking about? Was something that important to me that I now do not remember what it was?
It has been a while since I posted here. I have a confession to make. I, like so many times before, got drawn into something and forgot who I am. This time, it was comedy music. It is something I enjoy immensely and may, when the time is right, start up again but not to the level I was at. Moderation. Right now, though, it is cold turkey. I have got to get my priorities straight once again.
My wife brought up a good point about this a few weeks ago. With all of the songs I wrote, nothing was for kids. If that is where I enjoy being, why don't I write some songs geared towards them. They can be funny. I am thinking about that now.
Why the sudden change? This weekend, I went to a Men's Retreat with my church. For Friday and Saturday, not much got through to me. I listened, but really it seemed like a lot of old hat since I have heard, and have taught, the passages being covered about the life of Elijah. The story of Elijah on Mt. Carmel is like my favorite action scene in the Bible. But something that was said on Monday got to me. It was small, something said in passing. The story was about Elijah, after Carmel, running down to Beersheba, then out to the wilderness so he could go find a tree to lie under and die. Twice, an angel comes to Elijah and feeds him food and water. The second time saying, "Eat, for the journey ahead is too much for you." Elijah would have died without the provision of the Lord there. Then the speaker turned and said, "If you have lost your excitement, are you eating the Lord's provisions?"
A couple of weeks ago, my mom hosted a Veggietales sing-along at her church and I led. I was lackluster. My performance was flat and I just couldn't get excited. My life has been like that lately. I can't get excited about what is important to get excited about. I am drained and tired and lackluster and blase. I have too long tried to refresh my self with my own devices, be it baseball, comedy music, video games, work, working with kids, food, or whatever else is available and not gone to the well that will cause me to thirst no more.
So now, I ask for your prayers that God will continue to work through what He started Sunday, and 28 years before that, and restore unto me the joy of my salvation. I have been hiding in Sinai too long with God asking me what I am doing here.
It has been a while since I posted here. I have a confession to make. I, like so many times before, got drawn into something and forgot who I am. This time, it was comedy music. It is something I enjoy immensely and may, when the time is right, start up again but not to the level I was at. Moderation. Right now, though, it is cold turkey. I have got to get my priorities straight once again.
My wife brought up a good point about this a few weeks ago. With all of the songs I wrote, nothing was for kids. If that is where I enjoy being, why don't I write some songs geared towards them. They can be funny. I am thinking about that now.
Why the sudden change? This weekend, I went to a Men's Retreat with my church. For Friday and Saturday, not much got through to me. I listened, but really it seemed like a lot of old hat since I have heard, and have taught, the passages being covered about the life of Elijah. The story of Elijah on Mt. Carmel is like my favorite action scene in the Bible. But something that was said on Monday got to me. It was small, something said in passing. The story was about Elijah, after Carmel, running down to Beersheba, then out to the wilderness so he could go find a tree to lie under and die. Twice, an angel comes to Elijah and feeds him food and water. The second time saying, "Eat, for the journey ahead is too much for you." Elijah would have died without the provision of the Lord there. Then the speaker turned and said, "If you have lost your excitement, are you eating the Lord's provisions?"
A couple of weeks ago, my mom hosted a Veggietales sing-along at her church and I led. I was lackluster. My performance was flat and I just couldn't get excited. My life has been like that lately. I can't get excited about what is important to get excited about. I am drained and tired and lackluster and blase. I have too long tried to refresh my self with my own devices, be it baseball, comedy music, video games, work, working with kids, food, or whatever else is available and not gone to the well that will cause me to thirst no more.
So now, I ask for your prayers that God will continue to work through what He started Sunday, and 28 years before that, and restore unto me the joy of my salvation. I have been hiding in Sinai too long with God asking me what I am doing here.
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