Friday, April 24, 2009

Be anxious for nothing

I feel relatively confident that every single person who reads this blog is either family or close enough to be considered family. For that reason I don't feel the need to explain in great detail that I am a man of faith, but I am not overtly spiritual. That being said, this past week God has shown me a great lesson I have heard my whole life in a brand new light. My last post explained how things at work had gone from bad to worse...and then to terrible. I felt the need ,not only as a man with a job to do, but as a husband who needs to working on being in control of his emotions regardless of circumstance to do my very best to see the good in this situation...or at least be grateful that I am employed. This turned out better than I ever could have imagined. Not only did I feel much better about my situation and truly start to be thankful for what God has provided, but I was able to change the downhearted feeling in my work environment to one of hope and opportunity. By far the greatest thing to come from truly trusting God ( a very difficult task at times) is that my wife and I have grown incredibly closer through this. She saw how hard I was trying to stay positive and she in turn has been incredibly supportive. I guess the whole point of posting this is just to say that I am extremely thankful for the way things have worked out thus far and I am excited, not scared, to see where they go from here. I hate hearing things about how hard times build character and all that crap because nobody wants to hear that when they are royaly pissed off, but the fact of the matter is that God can use all things to his glory and I am learning that in a way I never would have thought.

On a related note I have applied for a position with Texas Parks and Wildlife and I would greatly appreciate your prayers on that front.

I am thinking about starting a weekly or monthly game night at Kimberly and I's home. I think it's very important to stay close to friends and family, especially when times are tough...so if you'd be down with game night...let me know. Perhaps yard bowling would be fun.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Update

Things at work have taken a turn for the worse. My boss was fired and it would seem that corporate is on a witch hunt. Consequently I have started an all hands on deck job search. By this I mean that I am asking very sincerely that all of my friends and family keep an eye and an ear out for a possible job opening for me. I am praying that God shows me exactly what to do in this situation, because in all honesty...I am out of patience for this crap and getting through this will only happen with God's help. So please be praying for me. If you want to know some specific things to pray for I have a short list:
Patience
Faith
The ability to see God as my provider
The ability to give my stress to God (I developed an involuntary eye twitch this past week)
A GREAT NEW JOB VERY VERY SOON!

Your prayers would be greatly appreciated.

I hit the hot-tub with my family last night. Good times. I think it's very important to have a great family support system during times of great stress. I am very blessed to have that.

I am going to go try not to be stressed out now.

Monday, April 6, 2009

The Summer of Greatness

In previous posts I have alluded to my premonition that this will be greatest summer of my life to date. Today, I want to take the opportunity to tell you all some of the things I have planned for this summer and why they will make this the greatest summer I have experienced thus far. After I have told you about my plans I want to open the floor to comments, questions, and suggestions about what else I might do this summer. However, before we get into my presentation, I want to give you an abbreviated back story on the history of myself and summers.

When I was a very young boy I loved summer. My brothers and I would spend all day playing outside with friends and doing things like running through the sprinklers, building forts, catching bugs and small animals, and so on and so forth. My love for the hottest season of the year started to wain as I started high school. As a young man with the desire to be involved in activities that cost money, I spent my summers working. Oh sure I had ALOT of free time even when I was working, but to a young teen being, every moment not spent in school should be spent doing whatever he pleases. And so, this disdain for the months between May and September grew stronger as I entered college and began attending both school AND work year round. Then, summer was just like the rest of the year...only much MUCH hotter!
I have since graduated college, taken a wife, and we have purchased a home. Not only do I have all of these things to celebrate year round, but I have an abundance of friends and family with whom I wish to spend my time...even in the summer. Additionally, summer happens to be my wife's favorite season of them all ( I suppose opposites DO attract) and so because I love her I love what she loves. Summer Included. And that brings us to why this summer will be the best ever. I give you the list of activities that will make up "The Summer of Greatness"

May
1 year wedding anniversary
My brother Joseph's wedding in Montana
My wife's birthday
My brother Jeremy's high school graduation

June
My sister Bethany's wedding in Texas
My cousin Ryan's wedding in North Dakota

July
4th of July Bar-B-Q (tentative)
Vacation in Nevada with my wife

Miscellanies Summer Fun
Round Rock Express Baseball Games
Building our backyard deck
Family and friend backyard parties
Swimming at our neighborhood pool
Trips to the lakehouse in Conroe
Trips to the Boat House in Belton
Trips to the coast
Fishing
Being tan
Playing Frisbee
Helping my family love into thier new home
Teaching Rovy to swim (the backstroke)
Running at San Gabriel Park
Kayaking
Camping
AND SO MUCH MORE!

I want to let you know that if you are reading this, I want to spend time with you this summer. We can do lots of activities on this list or anything else you can think up.

Now, I want t turn it over to you all and hear what you think of my plans for "The Summer of Greatness". Will you be joining me for this all season long celebration? Do you have more ideas of how to make this the best summer ever? I would love to hear what you have to say.

I'm really excited!

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Artists

If you are an artists you can not stop being an artist. Whether you create visual art, music, poetry, prose, food, or any other of the mediums of art, you can not decide that you will no longer create your art. I know in my own life I have had a time or two when it seemed as though my artistic pursuit had runs it's course, but what I failed to realize is that my creating is not entirely up to me. If I never set foot on a stage again I am still a musician and a song writer. I NEED to write music. It's good for my soul to hear emotion, my emotion, expressed through melody. Maybe this all sounds a bit out there, but I know too many people who create art in one fashion or another who are extremely creative and still, like myself, have shied away from making their art. So, to myself and to all of you I say LIVE FULLY, BREATH DEEP, AND CREATE!