32 Years and Counting

What a year it has been and it’s only September.  I started thinking the other day how many changes we’ve gone through.  How much we’ve grown in the last year.  How much we’ve learned in the last year.  No matter what we have always been shown what path we will follow as a family.  My wife can attest, the past year has not been easy by any means.  As I thought about this blog entry, I thought I’d do something cool and write some thoughts about what has happened historically/lessons learned in the past 32 years.  But as I did a search believe it or not the first thing that came up was 32nd week of the year Gospel Reflection.  Interesting I thought. The reflection is on Matt 25 1:13.  How fitting.  In short this part of scripture is on being prepared.  Have you ever walked out of the house and forgot to grab your wallet, sunglasses, car keys, grocery list, diapers, Bible?  I know I have.  When I do I feel unprepared for whatever activity I was going to do, wallet=pay for something, sunglasses=protecting your eyes from the sun, car keys=driving somewhere, Bible=having the word with you to help build the kingdom of GOD and to grow as a believer in Jesus.

These past  years I feel GOD has been working in me to do just that.  He has been preparing me for something bigger.  Everything that we have gone through has just made us that much more prepared.  One of the biggest lessons we have learned this year we are still working our way through.  Although we can definitely see the light at the end of the tunnel I have learned a very valuable lesson.  A lesson that I personally thinks needs to be shared.  I honestly think, not a lot of people think about it.  Here it is what you have been waiting for DRUM ROLL please……..Slow down listen to GOD, and think about what you are learning from any situation. That means Good or Bad. Take a min and Reflect.  I think you will be pleasantly surprised at what you are learning.  What ever you learn today will surely come into use someday.  Fact of the matter is you probably won’t even notice what you previously learned.

What is something you feel like you went through to prepare you for another event?  Or maybe you can share an interesting fact about what happened on this day in history?

Back to the basics…..

It’s a very exciting day here at Musings. Today is my very first book review.  I’m even more excited to say that I know the author and can recommend his book book Back to the Basics: A Christian Boot Camp on a personal level. So enough of me and on to the review. Disclaimer: remember this is my first review if this doesn’t get you excited to read the book follow the above link (highlighted) to read more.

Its easy to get wrapped up in our day to day lives. Things get forgotten and left out. Some of these things can be minuscule and some can be a huge deal when forgotten.

Over the weekend I was able to finish a book by my friend Christopher Anderson called Back to the Basics: A Christian Boot Camp.  When we get busy with our day to day lives it’s easy to lose our bearing on our walk with Christ.  Chris does a great job giving us a tool so we can maintain that “strong foundation in Christ”.  As a reader explores through the chapters, such as titled “Salvation”, “Holy Spirit and His Role in Our Lives”, or “How to Pray” just to name a few, you will be greeted with scripture reference at the begining of every chapter. This really made me feel comfortable that I had a reference point and didn’t have to try and remember where to look in the bible to reference what Chris was writing about. Chris has a lot of life experiences that he shares throughout his book.  Who doesn’t like to read others testimonies and how they relate directly with scripture.  This is a great non denominational christian book, that we all can use as a tool.

Whether you are just starting your walk with Christ or have been on your walk for many years I recommend you pick up Chris Anderson’s Back to the Basics: A Christian Boot Camp, and give it a read.  Just like a carpenter needs tools to build a house, Christians need tools to fight off the evil that try’s to crush our faith.  Lets all stand together and say enough is enough and get Back to the Basics.

It’s Friday!

HEY IT’S FRIDAY!!!!!!

Lately it seems that I get more and more excited about the end of the week. By my thoughts this could be due to a couple things.
First thing that my Friday happiness may come from its the thought of not having to my job. Sure I still may have to work around the house, in the yard, on the vehicles but its different. Its not my  JOB!
Secondly could come from the fact my wife and I are planners. We know what is going on two, three sometimes four weekends out. This weekend is going to be great! I’m am looking forward to a surprise and getting back with my church family. SUNDAY is going to be full of live music. After nearly three weeks off, i’m excited to be back.

Where does your Friday excitement come from?

Ohhhh yeah you’ll really want to check out musings on Monday! Till then enjoy your weekend.

Tuesday Morning

Most families are dual car families, if not three or four. When your mode of transportation goes down, you realize how attached you are to it. You start thinking of alternatives and sometimes it can just plainly ruin your day. On the other hand you can look at it as a new adventure.

What do you do?  Well a list of possibilities should include, ask another co-worker going your direction, call your spouse to pick you up, taxi and or bus.

When there isn’t another co-worker going your direction and you rather not waste the gas you may be trying to save, there is usually the public transportation option.  Some people cringe at the idea of taking the dreaded “BUS”.  Way I see it is that you can either embrace it or try to fight against it.

On to a new adventure by way of public transportation. Try it once you’ll realize actually how easy it is. You’ll be amazed about the people you will see and meet.  I was certainly entertained by the bus driver who was keeping a conversation and snaking this 35 footer down the highway to get us commuters to our next bus.

Do you take the dreaded “BUS” on a regular basis?                                                       Would you consider trying public transportation for a day? Week? Or maybe even a Month?

Feeling never lasts

You know that feeling you get when you forget something important. That sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach? You know the one i’m talking about the oh crap moment of I just locked the keys in the car or I left my favorite pair of sunglasses at the restaurant we left 50 miles ago. Usually the color runs outta your face and you think your going through some sort of male menopause? Get the point now? Good. No matter how its justified I think we have all had a moment like this.  Then in a flash the feeling is gone because you realize oh I put the keys into a different pocket or geeeesh my sunglasses are on top of my head.  What a relief when the color comes back into your face, you start to cool down a little and your t-shirt unsticks from your back.  Your day then continues and you find out it’s a feeling that never lasts.

When is the last time you had this feeling?

Planning or Going?

A combination of a post over at Some Wise Guy and a conversation I had with my wife and mother in law got me thinking about trips and vacations. My mother in law and I have taken a similar college class where we were tasked with making a presentation for a group vacation. She mentioned in our conversation how she may enjoy planning a vacation more, then actually going on one. Hmmmm I don’t know that I totally agree with that statement.  Yes I have had lots of fun planning a trip.  Any one that really knows me will also know I really like doing research.  In the end though, I think being at your final destination can’t be beat.

Are you the planner of the family?

Do you enjoy just being at your chosen spot and could leave planning to someone else?

Study Time…..

The beginning of this year brought on some new changes and goals.  I am sure this is true for most people.  One thing that I had always wanted to do is to dive deeper into GOD’s word.  I have been apart of many bible studies, men’s groups, ect.  I’ve even lead a small group with the help from Richard Stearns.  But I always kind of felt like I didn’t know the bible well enough to keep up with conversations in these things.  So I decided to make a change.  I decided to dive into the Bible and start studying it and beginning to understand a little more of the Word.  I made the decision to start a plan to read the Bible in a year.  Since the beginning of the year the reading hasn’t always been easy to get done. There even have been multiple days that I have skipped, and even more that I have made up and read extra chapters.  For me this has been a very powerful change to make.

There are so many ways that we have available today to make a Bible reading habit that we didn’t have years and years ago.  It may be difficult at first.  But trust me once you get going on it, this will be the best book you have ever read.  Eventually the Bible will just become part of your day.

Have you ever read the Bible in a year?  Or maybe in a shorter amount of time?  What is your plan?