Good Message

Justin Peters Message

ebay

I felt the need to post this exchange of emails with a store that tried to jip Isha out of some jeans I won for her on ebay...and I love the politeness I was able to 'draw' out of them. Basically, we won the item at a price that I think was lower than they wanted to sell them for, and they were trying to get out of it, but hopefully the jeans are on their way now:

seller: hi there, i couldn't get the messege to you before the auction ended but the jeans have been damaged and sent back to the manufacturer, i am so sorry for any inconvienience i wasn't aware of this till i got to my store this afternoon, thanx so much for your understanding. i will refund the balance if you have already paid.

me: Are you sure you just didn't get as much as you wanted for the item? There was no reason you couldn't have gotten this off in time, and just so happen to get on to do it just as the auction was over? I will report this to ebay because I do not believe you...

me: You must send the item, and it must arrive and be as described within 10 days or ebay will begin their investigation. I have contacted customer service, and they are very curious as to the timing of your communication being right after the auction won at a price lower than what you said they valued at, but they asked me to contact you first about sending the item in. They would then request proof of the damage and proof that it was returned to the manufacturer and what the manufacturer would do for the damaged item.
My suggestion is to just send the jeans and forget this ever happened...

seller: i will have some more by the first of the week, i will send a pair,,, they maybe alittle lighter or darker depending on what i get. just bear w/ me let me see what i get. sorry... i will make it right.

me: Just checking in to see if you've got those jeans to send yet. Waiting patiently...Thanks.

seller: hi, didn't get mail today, i will have several pair tomorrow, and will send em out 1st thing wed morning, i will resend the reciept tomorrow for you, thanx for your patience.

seller: hi, just got the jeans wrapped up and ready to send off to you,, i think you'll be happy w/ em. ill resend the paypal invoice and get these off in the morning.

LOL...why do we have to be so firm to get good service nowadays? Oh well...maybe the jeans will come, and we'll "forget this ever happened..."

Hmmm???

Ok, what would it mean if someone was told by God that they were going to die in a car wreck in the next four weeks. Because they had always wanted to smoke, but didn't because of health reasons, they went ahead and took it up. Three weeks later, they crash into a guardrail and die because some cigarette ashes had fallen in their lap. Hmm?

Well, I think that's the way we are a lot of times. We live our life in a "binary system." For those that remember a binary system in computers has only two options: 1 or 0. We know that ultimately, we can only either go to heaven or hell. If we have that assurance that we are going to heaven, we tend to stop working on stuff because our decision is made. We forget that the Holy Spirit was sent to us, not only to call us to salvation, but to guide us in our everyday lives.

I believe that "God's control" is not as much control as we think. Think about it, if God was really in control, would there be so much sin in the world? Would the world be rapidly decaying as it is? I know he can have as much control as he wants, but I believe, for the most part, he sets things in motion (such as nature...and our birth), and after that he reliquishes that control until we truly come before him and ask for it. I believe that the power we have through the Holy Spirit has to be claimed.

I particularly believe that, we as baptists, shy away from that. I discussed in my Bible study last night, what if someone could fly? Would they do it? Of course they would. If I could fly, it would be next to impossible to keep me from it. There's so much I could do for good, for fun, and for myself. So then, if we have so much power through the Holy Spirit, why do we not use it? Well, to begin with, my analogy is a poor one for this reason: If I could fly, I would do so because I see the benefit and know it would be great, but I would be in control. Would I be so quick to fly if it meant someone else would be controling me? I don't think so. We do have power through the Holy Spirit...power to heal through prayer, power to win souls for Christ, power to be an important part of miracles performed, power to be a mouthpiece of the gospel...but that power is only found by giving up control to the Holy Spirit.

My prayer is that we, as a body of believers...both my church and beyond, relinquish more and more of that control as we truct God with our lives. We've already given him eternity, so why do we hang on to our lives in pathetic world?

Sometimes in Life...

We are now deep into the football season, and it's one of the highlights of my life...it's my escape. The Cowboys are undefeated and for now, the favorites to go all the way. They just have to overcome their long streak of not having a single playoff win, including last season when they lost at home after having a bye. So far, they haven't had any significant injuries, and that could be the key.

The Longhorns are undefeated and on their way to the big Texas-Oklahoma game in a few weeks with Oklahoma having a chance to grab the number 1 spot and Texas could move into the top 5 or 6 with USCs loss lst night.

Then, we have Drew's team. I mentioned before that, before the season started, Drew came up and said he wasn't sure he wanted to play. After some discussion, he confessed that he didn't want to play because he was nervous that they would make him the quarterback. I assured him that he wouldn't be the quarterback--that he was an ideal fullback. Well, he is still ideally a fullback, but he is the starting QB. He does love it, but he takes it too serious...yes, I said he takes it too serious. We have had a couple of bad losses, but we are 1-0 in conference play. We've already beat another of the conference teams 20-6, so if we can beat them again, we are assured of a playoff spot. Our first team defense has only had 2 TDs scored on them, and our offense is starting to pick up. We have to correct the fact that we have scored 5 TDs in the second half and 0 in the first.

All that said, football is just an escape. The Cowboys and the Horns play on with or without me, and Drew's time will be over before I know it. Right now I watch Drew pouring his heart into it. He has agony in defeat and only mild satisfaction in victory. That's the way I feel about life sometimes. Sometimes there is just something small that can just ruin my day. And, actually there is one thing that can ruin any day for me. We all, at times, have that "thorn in our side." Many times it finally goes away for good, but usually it is a "thorn" stuck in our lives because we have no control as to it's presence.

So, I have nothing enlightening or profound to say...just hating that my "thorn" won't go away, and giving you that reminder of your "thorn" to ruin your day, I guess...sorry...

Who I try to be...

The life of a minister is a hard one. No, I don't compare it to the hard that a blue-collared oilfield worker or rancher endures. The hard part is finding an identity within it. It is difficult to teach, counsel, and give advice every week in the midst of your own faults. It's hard to live a life that is suppose to be "above reproach" when you know your own heart. It's hard to be in a position that is forced to worry about how people view you and not appear hypocritical to your own family. My dad was a minister...my father-in-law was a minister. Even I, as a fellow minister found it hard to look at their combination of faults and ministries and not be judgmental, so "oh how people close to me must view me!"

Well, I want to be as transparent as possible and for people to know that I see my faults...including the fault that we all have of not seeing all our faults...does that make sense? Well, here's transparent:

I don't know where more fault lies, but the combination of how my kids act and how impatient I am is making my relationship with them very difficult when I'm with them too much. I feel even worse when I go away for the day, return to find them excited to see and running up to tell me about their day, and what I really want is to go lock myself in a room just a little while longer.

I don't smoke or drink, but I have done both in the past. I don't really even like to drink, but I do envy smokers. Not that if I wasn't a minister I would do it because I don't like that I would smell like it all the time and the health factors, but it is vice I would deal with. When I commuted to school in Dallas, I sometimes had a couple on the way home to help stay awake...or that was my excuse anyway.

I don't like to do all the planning for stuff--trips, events, or whatever. I like for someone else to. However, if I see something I could have done to make it better, but it's too late, then I feel really guilty. "I should have thought of that" makes me angry at myself, so that usually drives me to do it anyway--especially if no one else wants to plan it.

I'm very competitive, but very strict on myself and others about staying within the rules. I want to win but I won't cheat to win. I don't get angry at others on my team that play for fun because I don't even think I have to win...I just want to do all I can to make it happen.

I feel I have very few talents, so I try to overcomensate by overusing the ones I do have. In other words, I can't do much, so what I can do I try to be perfect at. Problem is, there's no perfect, so I stay disappointed in myself. I feel like a failure a lot of the times when something small didn't work out.

I hate being misunderstood. It bothers me when I have a couple of friends mad at each other because of a misunderstanding. It drives me absolutely crazy when someone is upset at me because of a misunderstanding. I can't help myself but to want to make them see what I'm really thinking because I just know if they really knew what was in my head and heart, everything would be just fine.

I don't fear death, but I'm not sure if it has more to with being a Christian or the fact that I wouldn't have to worry about making anymore mistakes.

Sports is my escape, but I don't know if that's good or bad.

I do pray daily...I rarely get into my vehicle alone without praying about something.

I don't read my Bible like I should.

The combination of being stretched very thin and doing a poor job weighs heavy on me.

I don't want to appear okay or appear to be a good dad or husband or friend. I want to be a good one...I just don't always know how to make it happen.

I feel like my quiet and driven personality is mistaken for judgmental, critical, and "no nonsense".

I hate how long it takes for me to change. I hate that it takes even longer for others to accept and see that I've changed. However, I have a hard time accepting that someone else has changed. I guess both have to do with the fact that most people don't change. I feel like the last 7 years has been a long slow process of changing some things about me for the good. It's been stunted at times by life problems and my own stubbornness, but it's disheartening that the people closest to me might not have noticed or believed it happened.

God looks different to me all the time. I don't know if I'm getting a clearer picture as I go along or if I just don't know him like I think I do or should.

I do think that being a minister keeps a lot of people from wanting me around too much...if they only knew the mess I know I am they wouldn't be worried.

I wish I had time for a nap every day. I think it would make my day go better. I only need about 30 minutes, but it's not about finding the 30 minutes...it's about finding 30 minutes when I can empty my head.

That's all for now...

PeeWee Football

Football season is here and Drew's team has their first scrimmage on Saturday morning. Let me just say that this is a picture of our PeeWee team from last season. That's a nice size line, huh? Well, we finished tied for first in our conference, and all but one body on that line is gone. We are fielding a line that weighs about the same as just one side of the line pictured, so our quarterback and running backs will be running for their lives most of the season. Where does Drew play? Ya, he's the starting quarterback, poor kid. Well, we are tough and we might surprise everyone...including me, so let's get the season rolling and see what these boys are made of!

Aggrevations & Dislikes

Some of my recent aggrevations and dislikes:

>dealing with insurance companies when the appraiser breaks my headlight trying to force it back into place...then didn't even list the headlight on the list of approved repairs
>dealing with rental car places with which we made a reservation 4 days ahead of time for 10 a.m., didn't have a car ready, said they'd take it to Isha's work in 20 minutes...they delivered it at 5:30 p.m.--the time at which the body shop closed and 45 minutes after that body shop called and said our car was ready
>dealing with body shops and how they left our car out and unlocked and someone stole our DVD player
>pregnant women smoking and drinking...in public no less
>people that don't do their job
>slow Internet...I'm spoiled
>107 degree days
>Six Flags
>having plans to go to Six Flags on a 107 degree day
>Weddings - church staff people understand
>anything I'm fully responsible for, but not given the means to succeed at
>not finding good fruit in a grocery store
>trying to sleep when its hot
>guys that carry the 'pimp' 'player' or 'stud' mentalities
>girls that carry the 'fake ditz' 'bossy' or 'can't get along w/ other girls' mentalities
>the price of gas...ya, I'm finally there
>lying politicians
>hotel bedspreads
>being overweight
>what it takes not to be overweight
>the inconveniences of having a pet

Things that usually bother people, but not me:
>old people driving - I'll be there sooner than you think
>old people in stores - eaves dropped on an old man at Wal-mart yesterday asking the worker in electronics how could they not stock a movie about Normandy
>kids at camp - about to have two weeks in a row of it - 1st-3rd grade and 4th-6th grade
>a messy desk - can't work when everything is put away
>obnoxious church groups at places like hotels and restaurants - I've been there...as a leader and an obnoxious student
>lots of people at my house - as long as it isn't family

The Random TV Show Game

Last night Isha and I found ourselves layin' on the bed, and like we sometimes do, we broke into a spontaneous game...this time of TV trivia. It consisted of giving a word or short phrases of description of TV shows while the other tried to guess the show. It was just funny how little info the other one needed sometimes and how much we needed other times. For example, Isha got these right off:

"Cousin"

"Housekeeper"

Then, she looks at me and says, "Huh?" after I gave all these clues before finally guessing:

"Family...Yellow...Fat...Ageless..."

"Alien...Furry...Likes Cats..."

I think I should get bonus points for guessing the ones that she gave wrong clues on though, like:

"2 brothers...a cousin...a uncle...a farm"

"a family...2 uncles"

But, I must say the highlight was winning the debate as to whether Max Headroom did Coke or Pepsi commercials...the look on her face as she googled it and the prize I got for winning..."YOW BAYBEE!"

Random Things That Pop in My Head

I'm quite the thinker and I can't really just veg out often because I'm always thinking about something I need to be doing or planning or whatever. But from time to time these random things just pop in my head and I don't know why (in random order):

How a memory has been blocked in my mind from 6th grade...I was accused of taking a dollar, and I honestly can't remember if I did or not...then, I think I replaced it, but I can't remember that for sure either...just bugs me because I usually remember everything

Isha's blond fro she had when I met her that bobbed around when she laughed

The song, "Islands in the Stream"

A girl's phone number I liked in 3rd grade...592-9896...I never even called it

Picturing myself randomly punching someone in the face

Plays from a Kansas City Chiefs-Houston Oilers playoff game in 1994 including a touchdown pass Joe Montana threw to Tamarick Vanover in the win over Buddy Ryan's defense. Vanover spiked the ball in a huge realistic drawing of Buddy Ryan's face on a banner a fan had hanging on the sideline...the Chiefs came back from a 7-13 defecit in the 4th quarter to win 28-20...Montana's second consecutive comeback in as many weeks during those playoffs. This was my favorite non-Super Bowl game. He got a concussion and lost to the Bills in the next game, but then the Cowboys took care of them in the Super Bowl.

Picturing myself eating a small moist loaf of bread...and then my mouth begins to water

Car jumping scenes from the original series, "The Dukes of Hazzard" as I'm driving and picturing myself doing it


Another random thought not related to this list: That I used to think about soft serve ice cream when I saw something gross or smelled something really bad to keep me from gaggin'. I mean soft white creamy cold ice cream is the opposite of warm yellow-brown chunky stinky puke, right? Well, that all got ruined on a ski trip a few years ago when a kid had a soft serve ice cream cone and then chucked it on the floor right beside my driver's seat.

Making Happy Happen

This last Wednesday night I was sharing with the kids how God wants us to be happy. We were looking at specifically how we as Christians can be happy. We begin to "live our Christian life," and then look for something else to make us happy. We treat Christianity like it's our 'job' and then we find other things to fill our leisure time. I'm guilty of that all the time, but the truth is that if we are truly living our lives the right way, we find that satisfaction and happiness living right and building the kingdom.

I looked up the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-12) and read them from The Message. Not that they mean anything differently there, but I saw them in a new light. I always read them like they were blessings given to those that worked their 'job' properly or suffered. That there were separate from their leisure time...their happy time. But as I read them in The Message and even reread in my Bible, I see that it isn't just a blessing to suffering martyrs, but a blessing to those that found happiness in their Christian lives.

"You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule."
"You're blessed when you feel you've lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embrace by the One most dear to you."
"You're blessed when you're content with just who you are--no more, no less. That's the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can't be bought."
"You're blessed when you've worked up a good appetite for God. he's food and drink in the best meal you'll ever eat."
"You're blessed when you care. At the moment of being 'care-full,' you find yourself cared for."
"You're blessed when you get your inside world--your mind and heart--put right. Then you can see God in the outside world."
"You're blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That's when you discover who you really are, and your place in God's family."
"You're blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God's kingdom."
"Not only that--count yourselves blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens--give a cheer, even!--for though they don't like it, I do! And all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company. My prophets and witnesses have always gotten into this kind of trouble."

This isn't a 'blessed are the hurting' message, it's a 'this is what Making Happy Happen looks like' message. It's about getting yourself taken perfectly care of when you quit trying to take care of yourself and instead focus on others and the work of the Holy Spirit through you. It's about finding happiness in all areas of life--your job, your marriage, your kids, your passions--because you let God own it all. It's not about suffering now so you can be blessed or rewarded in heaven. It's about the reward of happiness that you will find even now here on this earth. It's about becoming a better friend, husband, wife, parent, co-worker, etc. It's about knowing God in a way that you know you don't and know you should.

This message, the 'Sermon on the Mount' (Matthew 5-7), began with those words and ended with these:
"But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don't work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach. When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards."

Is God in Control?

Sometimes you think you see the light at the end of tunnel, but you can always get to the end of the tunnel and find that light to be a hole too small to fit thru...

We always like to say that God is in control. But hasn't he chosen to not be in control? I mean, we talk about how we have to give him control for everything to get better, so if we don't, he isn't in control, right? Of course, I mean he isn't in control by his choice because he can take control at any time. I know he can take it any time, but we know for the most part he wants us to give it to him before he will really step in and have that control and take care of us and our messy lives. What about the complication of other people involved? If other people directly affect you, and you give God control but they don't, how can he really have that control in your life when their actions affect you and he won't normally 'take' control of them if it isn't given to him? What if people we affect give God control and we don't? Isn't our controlling ourselves going to affect part of their life in spite of them giving God control?

The Scream...The Cry

Ok, we did a GTIME on this last Sunday morning to show everyone what we do on Wednesday nights with the kids. Everything started out fine. I had planned to do the normal 30 minutes that we do. With our other normal stuff and a few other special things, that would take up the entire service.

We started out with a piano special, our semi-annual baby dedication, a scripture reciting, and recognizing our graduation seniors. We had the welcome, announcements, and I took over. The first thing I had planned was a skit/game. I had 3 "contestants". They left the room while I quickly set up the stage. I put different kids of balls under cloths. The catch is that the 4th of the 5 cloths actual sat over a hole in the table with a guy's head sticking up through it. It looked just like one of the other balls. The contestants are told that they are being timed to see how long it takes to go by one at a time, yank the cloth off, and yell out what kind of ball it is. When they get to the head, they, of course, jump and get scared. Well, the first contestant goes through calling out the balls and then she gets to the guy's head. Ya, she screamed a really long time...and then started crying really bad...in front of the whole church! I felt like crap, but what can you do at that point? I've seen this trick done 4 or 5 times, and no one has ever cried, and everyone afterwards said she was just the type they would have picked as well. Dang, though... And that was my first game to ever go bad, and it was in front of the whole freakin' church...

Well, the next one was an adult lady (that was funny), and then the last one came in. Well, the last one was the head guy's daughter. He was already to scare her bad, but what he didn't know was that we had already told her what the trip was. We had als placed in her hand a whipped cream pie, so you can guess the rest.

Then, we did about three songs and had the lesson, and concluded with a pizza party in the fellowship hall and a drawing for prizes that included a webkinz, an mp3 player, and a $50 gift card to Toys-R-Us. Pretty good otherwise...

Be Careful Little Eyes

It is obvious that God made us all different for a reason, and I'd never question Him in that. Each person in the body of Christ has different strengths. I have people all the time see things that I don't and get me back on track...although sometimes I don't see until I learn the hard way.

I guess sometimes, in a way, I just wish we all saw things the same way. I mean, don't freak out and start listing the negatives to that. I know them all, but I just mean sometimes i just wish that. We could all just get along. We would be strong about the same things and get hurt byt the same things, but we wouldn't know any different because we'd all be living in ignorant bliss.

The mistakes that you make, everyone would make and we'd all just live with the same consequences. The mistakes you would see someone about to make, they would see too and not make them. We wouldn't improve or grow, but we wouldn't know the difference...

Just a place I'd like to be sometimes...

haunted

I'm haunted by my mind
The thoughts that I cannot flee
Everywhere I go or turn
They follow me...taunt me

It's a bridge that can't be crossed
An item that can't be bought
It's stairs that can't be climbed
These thoughts that haunt my mind

How do you fight what you cannot see?
How do you silence what you cannot hear?
What can stop this pain I feel?
What can dry up all the tears?

God reaches out and calls my name
To come to him and leave the other
But isn't it a trap just the same
To leave one master for another?

Ah, I am not trapped here with them
These thoughts that are haunting me
God remove me from these demons
Because in your arms is where I am free

-Unknown

This just came to me in an e-mail forward from someone I don't even know. Thought I'd pass it on as this is the time of year...with family, financial pressures, new year new beginning plans, etc., that our thoughts can be destructive. Once we belong to God, thoughts cannot hurt us unless we let them control us and get out of His arms.

Not your typical holiday sentiment, but Merry Christmas and hoping your joy is much deeper than the smile on your face in front of the family!

Lean not on Your Own Understanding

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6

This is an all too familiar verse that I find myself constantly ignoring. Alisha, working on her Bible verse memorization for Bible Drill yesterday, walks up to me in the middle of a football game and quotes it to me. It was something I needed to hear. I believe I trust in God with most of my decisions and problems, but I don't always take away my "own understanding" in the equation. I want to worry in a way that makes me think I might be actually making suggestions to God about things I think I understand. And with things I don't understand, that worry turns into fear, frustration, and terrible thoughts. You cannot second-guess things because you can't change the past and the future is only secure when you give it to God and then LEAVE HIM ALONE with it.

Second-guessing is also a lack of faith. James 1:2-8 says, My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him aski faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord, he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. I am double-minded and unstable when I second-guess God, my past, or what God has for me from this point forward. And that isn't productive to those around me--especially my family.

Accepting that "everything happens for a reason" is trusting God... needing to know that reason is going back to leaning on your own understanding.

Thanks Alisha...

i just called to say...

My dad calls me to tell me the dumbest little things sometimes, like "i just bought new wiper blades for the car" or something like that...and he's serious! Well, for my own humor, I return the favor by telling him the same kind of stuff. The other day, I called him to tell him that I bought 2 new tires for my truck. Before I could get it out, he informed that he had just bought a brand new pecan cracker. He said, "It cost $9...I think it's gonna be a good one." I just couldn't top that...

Frappuccino Delivery

ok, i usually handle situations pretty good and can think quick on my feet, but sometimes i have a real bonehead day and it is usually when the city-boy comes out in me really bad. i have very little country sense--mechanics, being handy, etc. well, i was in wichita yesterday and decided i would swing by starbucks and surprise isha by bringing her a frappuccino...i had them double cup it because i knew i had about a 25 minute drive back to her.

well, i get about 8 miles from archer city and the road is shut down because of a wreck. they say its going to be about an hour. well, i'm sitting there with a cold frappuccino that needed to be delivered quickly, so i turn around and begin to look for a short cut around it. i get on a dirt road and figure as long as i keep turning left i'll eventually get back to the highway or to archer. well, i hit a familiar dirt road and think, great i know this goes there. but, i came to a fork in the dirt road. i took the left fork because, again, i'm trying to keep going south. the roads were pretty muddy, and i've let my back tires get pretty bald. so, as i came up to large stretches of mud and water, i had to drive faster to make it through it. the road i was going down began to get smaller and appear less traveled. i began to worry that i needed to go back. however, i had gone through so many mud holes and long stretches of mud that i wanted to keep going and hope this small road hit the highway at some point. finally, the road almost disappeared and i knew i had to turn around. i tried to find the largest dry area i could to turn around. well, it didn't matter because sure enough i got stuck. as i tried to get out, my truck began to overheat and i stopped. my belt had broken. this was bad news as i knew enough to know this was the only belt and it ran everything so there was nothing to keep the water pump running to cool now.

i climbed out and looked around to try to see where i was. yeah, i had no idea and the lack of tracks on the scarce road let me know help wouldn't be by anytime soon. i could see some powerlines, across the field, so i thought the highway might be close. i looked and saw the top of a rest area that i knew was only a couple of miles from archer, so i started walking down the road further to see if it hit the highway soon. about a mile down, the road was so muddy, i knew i couldn't get through, so i went back to see if the truck had cooled. it had, so i dug out under the tires and put some limbs i had broken off a tree to give me traction. did i mention i'm in jeans and flip flops? yeah, perfect. well, i got the truck out, and stopped for a minute because it was already really hot again. i knew i was going to have to drive fast through the muddy areas again to make out, and that would heat the truck up pretty bad. i started out and nearly got stuck several more times, but finally made it past the mud and to the original fork. i sat and let the truck cool again and started out from there. where i finally hit the highway was about 15 miles from archer, but i left the hood cracked open and the air kept the engine cool until i got to town...exactly 1 hour and 40 minutes after i turned around at the wreck.

yeah, i don't deserve a truck...i should be driving a dodge stratus...oh, and what about the frappuccino? i had poured it on the engine to help cool it off...

be a quitter

There is nothing more selfish than self pity. There is nothing more dangerous than to surround yourself with "whoa is me!" people. I'm sorry and I know am in this position to serve the needy, but i get really tired of people that feel sorry for themselves and their goal is to make others feel sorry for them too, so they can feel justified in their feelings and lack of motivation. for those who get discouraged all the time and want to quit, here's a quit list for you:
1. Quit looking at successful people and assuming the only difference in you and them is that they caught all the breaks. Most of them made the breaks happen.
2. Quit wanting to be something you're not and can't be. Contrary to the saying, you can't do anything you put your mind to, so start figuring out what you are capable of doing and do that.
3. Quit wanting what other people have. You can have what they have and that still does not make you them.
4. Quit looking for the easy way. God kicked Adam and Eve out of the garden and said the easy way is gone.
5. Quit smoking, drinking, and any drugs you might do. Yeah, it's just pretty much stupid and costs a lot of money.
6. Quit wasting. Don't waste money. Don't waste time. Don't waste energy. Don't waste talent. Don't waste opportunities. And, don't waste those same things that belong to other people...that's even worse.
7. Quit feeling sorry for yourself. You live in America. You have a better chance of a good life than anyone in the world.
8. Quit hurting other people to make yourself feel better. God is watching and what goes around, comes around. There is no success in that path.
9. Quit cycling. Success is measured by where you are now compared to where you were. If you let yourself go in circles, you'll never get anywhere.
10. And other than this list, quit quitting. Everyone has failures. Some people just look like everything they do succeeds but it looks like that because they didn't quit in the past.
But seriously, there is one sure way to fail...quit on God because nothing you achieve outside of him will ever mean anything. He owns us, and if you have anything that he doesn't own, then you don't really have it. Does he own your possessions? Does he own your friends? Does he own your marriage? Does he own your kids? So quit trying stuff without him and wondering why you fail...

how i know my friends

i know my friends because:
1. they always answer my calls or texts (at their normal average response time anyway)
2. they love my wife and kids as much or more than they do me
3. they hollar at me to make plans with them
4. they always allow me to put God and my family first
5. they help me carry burdens that i can't carry myself, and drop everything for me because they know i wouldn't ask them to unless i really needed it
6. they fight me for the check at dinner, and they always try to make me owe them more favors than they owe me
7. they listen and listen and listen because they know i usually work it out on my own...i just need someone there to say it all out loud to
8. they can sense my mood and what i need even over the phone
9. they find the best in me, pull it out of me, and then compliment me on it
10. it doesn't take much planning to have fun with them, and when the plans go awry, the fun really begins
this comes not from a list of "what a friend should be" but from my experiences and relationships with my true friends...thanks a million because i wouldn't make it through life without you!

BETTER OFF ROCK'D

Isha and I went to a concert last nite that included Stephen Speaks, Nevertheless, Everday Sunday, and Seventh Day Slumber. I need to throw out some cheers and jeers on the event:

1. to the large dude in all black with long black hair that came and sat next to me, cheers for not murdering me by shoving a jagged sirenge in my neck, but jeers that you made me move and cleared out the entire section by making out with your woman.

2. to the drummer of Nevertheless that was fat and in his forties, hairy with a black tank on, and long curly black hair and a beard, cheers for not conforming to the skinny, tight shirt, girl jeans, long punk bangs look of the other members. keeping being your own man.

3. jeers to the bouncer guys that looked like they should be picking up trash on the side of the road in orange jumpsuits and shackles...very scary.

4. jeers to the girl next to me that heard the lead singer say, "this song is about getting hurt and then closing yourself up to the world" and proclaimed that "this song si so about me"...if you were closing yourself up to the world, you would not be saying that you're closing yourself up to the world.

5. jeers to the smell in there.

6. cheers to those that didn't fit into the three major groups represented: the church kids, the rockers, and the old rockers...yeah, we didn't fit, so cheers to us...lol

7. jeers to the church girls that stood in the back with their arms crossed grinning the whole time because they didn't know what else to do...we know you went home and blogged that you went crazy at the concert.

8. jeers to the skimpy-dressed women in the place that wanted me to lust cause it didn't work...i was with the hottest girl in the room and she was simply wearing jeans and a t-shirt...except at that remote parking lot.

9. cheers to the bands for making me "better off rock'd"!