My Mere Existence...

Think about it…

2009-04-02T22:35:00.001-05:00

Last year I watch John Lynch give a message to a group of Navigators . There have been few messages that have forever changed my life. This one did. Out of the message a book has been written entitles TrueFaced. If you have not read it DO SO.

In the message John Lynch talks about a “New Testament Gamble”. It really is a great though so I wanted to pass it on. Its a little long but well worth the read:

The New Testament “Gamble”
“What if I tell them who they are? What if I take away any element of fear in condemnation, judgment or rejection?
What if I tell them I love them, will always love them? That I love them right now, no matter what they‛ve done, as much as I love my only Son? That there‛s nothing they can do to make my love go away?
“What if I tell them there are no lists? What if I tell them I don‛t keep a log of past offenses, of how little they pray, how often they‛ve let me down, made promises that they don‛t keep?
What if I tell them they are righteous, with my righteousness, right now?
What if I tell them they can stop beating themselves up? That they can stop being so formal, stiff and jumpy around me?
What if I tell them I‛m crazy about them? What if I tell them, even if they run to the ends of the earth and do the most horrible, unthinkable things, that when they come back, I‛d receive them with tears and a party?
“What if I tell them that if I am their Savior, they‛re going to heaven no matter what—it‛s a done deal? What if I tell them they have a new nature—saints, not saved sinners who should now ‘buck up and be better if they were any kind of Christians, after all He‛s done for you!‛
What if I tell them that I actually live in them now? That I‛ve put my love, power, and nature inside of them, at their disposal?
What if I tell them that they don‛t have to put on a mask? That it is OK to be who they are at this moment, with all their junk. That they don‛t need to pretend about how close we are, how much they pray or don‛t, how much Bible they read or don‛t?
What if they knew they don‛t have to look over their shoulder for fear if things get too good, the other shoe‛s gonna drop?
“What if they knew I will never, ever use the word “punish” in relation to them?
What if they knew that when they mess up, I will never “get back at them?”
What if they were convinced that bad circumstances aren‛t my way of evening the score for taking advantage of me?
What if they knew the basis of our friendship isn‛t how little they sin, but how much they let me love them?
What if I tell them they can hurt my heart, but that I never hurt theirs?
What if I tell them I like Eric Clapton‛s music too?
What if I tell them I never really liked the Christmas handbell deal with the white gloves?
What if I tell them they can open their eyes when they pray and still go to heaven?
What if I tell them there is no secret agenda, no trapdoor?
What if I tell them it isn‛t about their self-effort, but about allowing me to live my life through them?”

Videos of the Week – Issue 1.2

2009-03-31T00:19:00.001-05:00

Videos of the Week – Issue 1.1

2009-03-26T16:22:00.001-05:00

Enjoy…

This Dream of Mine

2009-03-26T14:53:00.001-05:00

Many people probably don’t know this about me. I have this dream of becoming a professional writer. I’d like to write a recurring column for a magazine or a newspaper someday. That would be awesome. I am, however, just beginning to actually see what it takes to do this. I didn’t pursue this when I was in high school or college so I figure I might already be a few steps behind. That’s never stopped a determined person from giving it a shot though. Anyways…

I think the first thing I have to do is figure out what I’m best at writing about. Even though most big-time writers have the talent to write about anything, they usually have a niche that they stick with. Why? I figure if you try to right about 20 different things, you’re spreading yourself out too much. If you have maybe 3 things that you write about, it’s much easier to keep up with the world and matters involving your topics. All in all, I think your quality of work would be better.

That’s the step I’m at right now. What should I write about? Hmmm…

Run Away

2009-03-25T10:01:00.004-05:00

"I'm am comfortable with deconstruction.." - Justin McRoberts

Today is a beautiful day! Not really... Rain and warmness are both involved so it's not really what I like. God chose it though so I can roll with it..

I really wish I was in a car on a road trip with my wife and my puppies. That would be fun. There are a thousand places we could go. I will now give you a list of the top 5 places that I would like to visit right at this very moment:

Boston, MA - I love the history. I love how you can walk the entire length of the city in around an hour. I love the seafood. I really love the town.
Seattle, WA - I've never been but I've always wanted to visit the Northwest corner of our great country. The coffee shops and bookstores are supposed to be second-to-none.
San Francisco, CA - I've never had an a big urge to visit the west coast of California but if I were to visit, I would definitely want it to be San Francisco. I don't have any specific reasons...
Atlanta, GA - It simply feels like home.. There are so many cool things to get into..
New York City, NY - C'mon... Why wouldn't I want to visit NYC?

There you have my list for the day. It's been over a year since our last "vacation." Like "leave town on an airplane" vacation. I'm itching to run. Life is too short to not at least attempt to see EVERYTHING!

"You are the one real thing.. You are the one true thing.." - Skillet

When someone random tells you their name, do you remember? I don't... I need to work on that. I have customers come in all the time asking if I remember them and I never do. I don't guess that should hurt their feelings. What if it does though? That would suck.

Skillet is going to be playing at the new convention center here on April 10. I might try to make it to that. They have a good sound. Laziness will probably conquer me though.. I doubt I go..

I watched last week's American Idol last night. The country one. It wasn't that great. There was no one on the show that really wowed me. No one that I could see breaking out and actually being memorable. Then again, most of these people aren't looking for a career in Nashville..

I hate something right now. I'm not totally sure what it is but I'm becoming angry about it.

Later...

Coffee Meatloaf? Wow...

2009-03-24T14:29:00.001-05:00

I mowed the yard last night! It's done! For a few days at least... I need to spray my yard with something to kill all the weeds but I need something that's not going to hurt my dogs.. I'll have to just ask some smart people about it I guess.

We watched an Iron Chef America re-run last night that featured coffee as the secret ingredient. This was pretty interesting because you never really see coffee used in anything besides the obvious. The venison looked really good! Oh well... In other TiVo news, I have three episodes of The Office waiting to be watched. This makes me smile in a very un-intense state of anticipation.

Do you know where to begin? Because I don't...

I've put some good hard rock music on my Blackberry and it's improving my mood slightly. I love mellowed out acoustic songs but they can leave you in a pretty somber mood at times. I read in my new Rolling Stone that Conor Oberst has a new record coming out in May. This is great because the music he's made with his Mystic River band or whatever it's called is a lot more appealing to me than his music with his band Bright Eyes..

Paying bills is fun if you can do it..

Life is exactly what you say it is. You will always get out of life exactly what you put into it. Life makes exceptions for no one. We see people that are "living the good life" and we feel a tug of animosity. We shouldn't. The reason they are where they are is because they are smart, hardworking people. Extremely hardworking. And while they may take people's advice to heart, they don't let it affect or derail the vision they have for their life.

President Obama's nearly 4 trillion dollar budget is ridiculous. I heard on the radio this morning that it will end up costing the average taxpayer an extra $4,000.00 a year. Gas will go back up. Our energy bills will at least double. Now this may just be republican rhetoric. I do live in a very conservative part of the country which subsequently means I will be more likely to catch those sorts of pundits on the radio. It's still sort of scary. I hope he knows what he's doing.

I heard Mississippi State's Lady Bulldogs (or whatever they're called) got screwed in their NCAA Tournament game against Ohio State last night. I didn't see it but I did hear they got hosed by some phantom calls at the end. That sucks.

Why is it never enough? Really... What more could I do for it to be enough? Because it never seems to be...

I Love You, Man is a funny movie. Go see it if that brand of humor doesn't embarrass you too badly. "Give it back!" hahahahaha.....

This machine does not give change. Ever.

"Let's pack up and move to California.. She's got lots of friends out there..We'll never get bored cuz we can go boarding. Let's let the sunshine take us there!" - Hawk Nelson

I've got my fingers crossed!

Watch Rob Bell's The Gods Aren't Angry DVD. It's really great. I don't care if you like him or don't like him. I think even if you don't agree with EVERYTHING someone says, you can take some of what they say and appreciate it. I have friends that I usually agree with but not always. That doesn't mean I dismiss everything that they've got to say. Some people just can't accept a fresh look at their faith.

Have a great day!

Stupid Christians

2009-03-23T09:35:00.004-05:00

I'm trying to remember how small I am. I constantly forget how big God is. I make him me-sized. And that's only natural because us-sized is the only size we've ever known. It would be impossible to comprehend something God-sized.

I did not enjoy church yesterday. The pastor was, in my humble opinion, terribly off on a lot of things and while I see and appreciate what he was trying to communicate to us, it didn't work. Now I'm actually very hesitant to dismiss someone's teachings so quickly. I wanted to make sure it wasn't my hard heart or my being convicted of something that was causing me to miss the point. I'm certain now that it wasn't.

The main point he was trying to communicate was that we should all have a vision for our life. If we have no vision, we will perish. That's in the bible. I'm cool with that analysis. He then made the remark that only two out of every twelve people actually realize and pursue the God-given vision for their lives. Twelve was in reference to some group of people in the Bible. He was in Joshua and Numbers but I can't remember exactly. That statement really made me think. Is he saying that if I'm not teaching a bible study, leading worship, or doing missionary work overseas, then I have no vision for my life or that I'm purposely suppressing God's will for my life? Am I at fault because I work a 9-6 full-time job and can't be at every bible study or prayer service? Can God's will for my life be stymied by my job? Shallow...

Is it my fault that we can't all work full-time in the ministry?

I have good friends that I look up to that do NOTHING but work at church. And some look at me like there's something wrong with me or I'm not living right because I'm not taking part in a ministry at my local church. It's stupid. We can't all work at church full-time. I regress...

He then proceeded to say that basically, "my heaven's gonna be better than your heaven." He said we should be working here on earth and storing up crowns in heaven. I'm cool with that last part about the crowns but do you really believe that Heaven will be "better" for some than it will be for others? Will there be a heavenly chain gang for us Christians that maybe fell short of the mark a few times? I'm probably totally wrong here and there's probably biblical evidence of that but it sounds stupid. I've never had a pastor make me look up and say, "Why am I here? This is stupid." He made Christianity, Heaven, and God sound really stupid and I couldn't wait to leave.

All in all, I won't be back to listen to any more stupid sermons at that stupid church.

Stupid Christians...

NCAA Tournament Bracket Update – Day 3

2009-03-22T00:31:00.001-05:00

Yeah, my bracket has taken a terrible turn. One of my final four teams (Florida State) got bumped in the first round. Let’s see my picks today.

North Carolina over LSU – YES
Gonzaga over Western Kentucky – YES
Oklahoma over Michigan – YES
Villanova over UCLA – NO
Duke over Texas – NO but I did have Duke beating Minnesota to get to the Sweet 16 only to lose to UCLA.. What was I thinking?!?
U-Conn over Texas A&M – YES.. well.. Actually I had U-Conn beating BYU but they’re in the Sweet 16 anyways!
Memphis over Maryland – NO
Purdue over Washington – NO in the worst way.. I had Mississippi State and Northern Iowa playing this game..

4-4 today… I guess the win-loss record can be thrown out the window once you hit the second round.. All in all, 3 of my final four picks are still playing.. Just FYI.. I have Kansas beating U-Conn and Syracuse beating Florida State on the other side to set up a Kansas-Syracuse championship game rematch! What?!? It could happen! Oh yeah, and Kansas shall win! ha…

NCAA Tournament Bracket Update - Day 2

2009-03-21T10:14:00.002-05:00

My picks from last night were about like my first day picks.. I went 11 for 16. That leaves my first round picks at 23 for 32. Not good but I've definately picked worse in my life.

Syracuse over SFA - YES
Oklahoma State over Tennessee - YES
Marquette over USU - YES
Kansas over ND State - YES
Arizona State over Temple - NO
Pitt over ETSU - YES
Dayton over West Virginia - NO
Missouri over Cornell - YES
Louisville over Moorhead State - YES
Arizona over Utah - NO
USC over BC - YES
Xavier over PSU - YES
Siena over Ohio State - YES
Cleveland State over Wake Forest - NO
Michigan State over RMC - YES
Wisconsin over Florida State - NO

The Florida State upset actually busted up my bracket pretty bad. I had them in the Final Four for some odd reason.

NCAA Tournament Bracket Update – Day 1

2009-03-20T00:09:00.001-05:00

I went 12-4 on my tournament picks today. Definitely not the best I could have done. I made a couple of bone-headed picks like Minnesota over Texas and Northern Iowa over Purdue. Those were mainly based on me knowing nothing about the teams. I did pick Maryland over Cal and Western Kentucky over Illinois though to make up for that.

LSU over Butler – YES
Memphis over CS Northridge – YES
Texas A&M over BYU – NO
Purdue over Northern Iowa – NO
Connecticut over Chattanooga – YES
Maryland over California – YES
UNC over Radford – YES
Washington over Mississippi State – NO
Texas over Minnesota – NO
Michigan over Clemson – YES
Villanova over American – YES
Gonzaga over Akron – YES
Duke over Binghamton – YES
Oklahoma over Morgan State – YES
UCLA over VA Common – YES
Western Kentucky over Illinois – YES

Hopefully my bracket won’t get busted tomorrow!

Backetball, Foozball, Bassball, and Morez

2009-03-19T09:31:00.004-05:00

"What is this fire that grows stronger against the wind? What kind of flame can this be?"

Backetball - The NCAA Tourney starts today. I'm pretty excited about it. I'm rooting for Mississippi State of course but after filling out my bracket on Facebook, I ended up with Kansas winning it again. I can't believe I did that. I've never liked Kansas very much but I guess I'll root for them this year. I think they are pretty underrated though.

Foozball - Ole Miss just put together probably the worst football schedule in the history of the university. This might be one our best teams this decade at least. If they are, they're going to have to do it without a bye week. We play Memphis week one and get a bye. We then play our final 11 games in 11 weeks. All so we could play a Thursday night game on ESPN against South Carolina. It's not even going to be a home game! I just don't understand sometimes.

Bassball - Ole Miss is rolling with a 13-4 record now. They lost like 3 of their first 5 but they've been rolling ever since. I'm pretty sure we made a pitching change, putting our Friday guy on Sunday. Things have been much improved since then. I can honestly tell you I don't know much about nor do I care to know much about the state of Major League Baseball. They can cancel it for all I care.. Mississippi State played Southern Miss at Trustmark Park in Pearl Tuesday night. Of course, we knew nothing about it and decided to eat supper at the restaurant inside Bass Pro. Parking was outrageous. Oh well. I guess I'll know to be prepared for the Governor's Cup in April.

A guy just asked me if I knew why PhonErotica just started charging. Weird... Who looks at porn on their cell phone? That guy...

Pick up your right foot and spin it in a clock-wise circle. While you're doing this, draw a 6 in the air with your right hand. I bet you can't...

A customer across the counter from me just said, "I just stopped taking care of it and now the whole thing's broken." How often does this happen in our lives? Our bodies, our inspirations, our relationships.. Things usually break down when we stop taking care of them.

Don't spoil your jellyfish. They get pretty obnoxious with the flailing tentacles and all...

Backing Into Tomorrow

2009-03-19T00:15:00.002-05:00

Life overwhelmes me at times. It makes me think that its flying by so quickly that I'm missing it. Lying in bed right now next to my beautiful wife, I realize that its not. Its not up to me to wait for the next big thing to happen in my life. There's not something bigger that I'm missing out on. Folks, it gets no bigger or better than the way I feel right now.

Don't get me wrong though. I still want more. The beautiful thing, however, is that I want more of the incredible blessings I've already received like my wife, family, and friends, and the simple joy of my salvation. Its such a good feeling.

In other news, I ate Fajita Nachos tonight. I shouldn't have and I have paid dearly. On the scale and in more obvious ways. I have to get back on track tomorrow. I know I will though. No choice really..

Til tomorrow..

Jay…

2009-03-18T18:55:00.001-05:00

I had a crappy day today. This has been the kind of day that makes you want to throw it in the bag and start over tomorrow. I got off work at 6, got in my truck, and headed home. I was almost out of the parking lot when I noticed this:

If you look real close at the center, you will see a lizard. I’m going to call him Jay. Let me tell you something about Jay. Jay is one tenacious little, life-loving, death-evading son of a reptile. If you don’t live in or know your way around Jackson, you won’t appreciate this. This little guy held on from where I work in Deville Plaza off of I-55, all the way down Ridgewood and Lakeland, and into my neighborhood in Flowood. I appreciate that. Below is Jay holding on while I rode down Lakeland.

I’m telling you about Jay to tell you about this. Some days when I feel like complaining about where I am in life or where I work or any other random thing I can think of to complain about, God uses something really silly to bring me back to my senses. Here I am, at the end of a bad day, feeling like climbing in my bed and just starting over tomorrow and this lizard with a brain the size of a small pebble with WAY less to live for than me knew well enough to not let go. Even he realizes and appreciates how precious each second of his life is.

God doesn’t give us tough situations to bring us down, test us, or cause us to give up. He brings us tough situations to help us realize why we trusted him in the first place. God will take care of us. He will never fail us. He will never let go of us. We are at the center of his vast and infinite universe. Letting go and going off the deep end hoping it makes us feel better instead of taking God at his word and actually allowing him to provide would just be silly.

Even Jay knows that.

All The Same

2009-03-18T13:49:00.003-05:00

I'm forcing myself to write on this blog early and often. I find that when I have an outlet, I feel better. This is my outlet and even though no one may read it, it makes me feel better. So there.

Lately when I'm sitting at a red light, I've been watching people. I try to look at every face that passes me. I'm surprised that while every face is different, they look so much alike. Some people look happy. Some people look sad. Some people look stressed. Some people look like they just don't care! Even though we're all so different and we all approach life in such different ways, when it all comes down, we're all people and whether we're rich, poor, black, white, spiritual, religious, or not, we're all in this together.

Now I'm aware that a vast majority of us don't see it that way. We look at people like we're living in some kind of caste system. It makes me sad to think about how much different life would be if we all saw each other as equal parts of society. I know this is an extremely far-fetched idea but it's definitely worth dreaming about and even working towards on an individual basis. I'm definitely talking to myself right now.

To go even further... If we actually took a step back and looked at the grand scheme of things, we would see that none of this really matters anyway. We all live very short lives on a speck of dust in a universe whose vastness we'll never be able to appreciate or even fractionally comprehend. Yet we think that our lives are so big and so important that we're scared to make a move because we may jeopardize our comfortable existence.

Life is so short yet we never take chances when they come our way. How can we right-size our lives?

How can we see things as they really are?

Love is Gonna Break Through

2009-03-18T11:10:00.003-05:00

You know how you give someone some "advice" about life and then shortly after you give that person that advice, you're faced with the same situation and forced to listen to your own advice?

It sounds alot different when it turns itself around..

I know we chase alot of things in this life. We chase money. We chase power. We chase sex. We chase a lot of material things. We chase the American dream. We always chase more than what we have. Some chases are worth it and some are not.

I think chases that are worth it include but are not limited to: Chasing a relationship with Jesus. Chasing peace. Chasing contentment. Chasing love. Chasing more love. Chasing a little bit more love.

Love is the only thing in this world that completely fills us. Completely gives us peace. God is love. He is the epitamy of love. Chasing him is chasing love in its most pure form. We have no idea what it feels like to love someone as much as God loves us. We have no grasp of unconditional love. We say we do but we don't. You think you love your son or daughter unconditionally. But if they killed your wife and your parents, I don't think you would love them quite as much if at all. If they lied to you and broke your heart every day, you would eventually fall out of love with them. It's not a love that we can grasp.

Oh well..

Beautiful Universe

2009-03-18T09:58:00.003-05:00

I have this big-time urge lately to look at the sun. I tried this morning because it was just SO bright and beautiful. I'm sure there are some glasses I could buy. It's awesome because there are billions of stars up in the sky that we see every night and to see one so close up is an incredibly amazing thing.

Last night, the stars were as beautiful as I have seen them since we've lived here. All the lights in the house were off and I was standing in the backyard just looking up. The longer I stood out there and looked, the more stars seemed to appear. It was beautiful. I had Orion to my left and Ursa Major to my right. Those are the only two constellations I could pick out. It was so beautiful it hurt. The moon was missing in action though.

Something just really pissed me off... Later...

Random Thought brought to you by the 11:04 PM Thought Train

2009-03-17T23:06:00.001-05:00

I’m tired of being ashamed of my faith. I think it’s time people don’t have to wonder where I stand.

I am a Christian. I believe Jesus came to earth, lived a sinless, human life, and died for me. I believe he took my sins on himself and clothed me in his righteousness in order to bring me forgiveness. He also made the universe.

What have I been ashamed of again?

A Bittersweet Anniversary of Sorts

2009-03-17T18:24:00.001-05:00

So I’m sitting here at home waiting for Lee to get home from work. That should be in about 45 minutes if all goes as planned. I’m excited about that! I do, however, wish that there was a good movie playing that I haven’t seen. It seems like the movie lineup isn’t changing at all lately. I mean, we’ve gone 2 or 3 times in the last month and seen good movies but those same movies are still there along with the ones that were there before. The only new ones are really raunchy ones like Fired Up and Miss March. While I will usually watch these, they are not movies I want to sit and watch with my wife on a date. I thought about going to see Slumdog Millionaire seeing how it won like a billion Oscars but I heard there’s a scene where the dude vomits because he sees a kids eyes get gouged out and I’m just not sure I want to be there for that. I know I’m weak. I’m sure the scene lasts like 3 seconds. Oh well…

Do you know how difficult it is to get on here and post a blog everyday. I always set out with the best of intentions to do so but some days I just have nothing to write. And that sucks because I would love to write a column or something someday on the side but this lack of motivation scares me. I’m rambling now…

In reference to this post’s title, today marks 3 years since Lee’s grandmother Sue died of cancer. If you don’t mind, could you remember Lee and her family in your prayers right now as this is always a tough week for them. She was an incredible lady and I’m not sure I’ve seen a more LOVED lady in my life. My family included. Sometimes I don’t understand how it can still hurt them so bad after 3 whole years have passed but I’ve added it my list of the many things that I don’t fully understand yet I wholeheartedly respect. As far as the bittersweet part, it’s sad that Sue’s not here anymore. However, it’s a blessing because all the pain she felt as she passed was left here on Earth.

Sue,

I know you read my blog so I’ll just say this:

We love you. We miss you. We can’t wait to see you when our times comes. I know for sure that immediately after Lee skids into Heaven and meets Jesus, she’s going to be hittin’ up some kind of heavenly 411 service to find you! Glad you’re not hurting anymore!

Love always,

Us down here!

Masterpiece..

2009-03-10T22:08:00.001-05:00

I was thinking today about how we all have hopes and dreams and things that we long for in our lives. We all have an innate desire to do great things. We all want to create a masterpiece. And its this masterpiece that gives us a reason to get up in the morning.

Everyone of us is building something. All the way through history, our world and our lives have revolved around building something up while something else is torn down. Every hero’s rise was brought about by another’s fall. Every empire’s greatest age was brought about by another’s darkest hour. Visit here to see how the cookies crumble.

Anyways, I say all of that to say this. Inside us, there are two very distinct, very different empires raging against each other. I think, in order to keep this simple, I would put it this way. There’s the part of you that creates. It thrives off of the exciting things that you dream about and the worthwhile things you use your hands to create. Then there’s the part of you that ages. This part of you thrives off of doing nothing. It sits back and pretty much causes you to sleep through your life without you even realizing it. Scary stuff.

I’ve been struggling for a while with both sides. When I feel creative, I second-guess myself so much that I end up back in my all-to-comfortable struggle with self-doubt. I don’t believe in the masterpiece I so desperately want to create. I feel like it’s right in front of me. Like my wings are spread and I’m ready to jump. Then all of a sudden, I forget why I’m up on the cliff in the first place. By the time I remember all of the reasons that I showed up, I end up nearly talking myself out of believing even one of them. Note the word “nearly.” I always nearly forget. That’s why it hurts so bad when I walk away.

That being said, I’m definitely not an expert at coping with this by any stretch of the imagination. However, I do feel like I’m getting a little bit better at dealing with it so I’ll share with you some of the things that have helped me.. Here goes:

1. Look at the stars. I think a lot of us have forgotten what it feels like to be in awe. To just stand in amazement looking at something that we can’t even begin to comprehend. Something with no definite beginning and no definite end in sight. It’s exhilaratingly terrifying. I cannot begin to tell you how incredible our universe is. I know astronomy isn’t for everyone but check out this page and read a little bit about our solar system. When you look up into the sky and realize how small you are, it really opens your eyes to how beautiful (and LARGE) everything really is.

2. Build something. Literally. Get some wood. Get some screws. Attach them together. Paint it. Name it. See if it doesn’t make you feel better!

3. Read a book outside. Get some fresh air and let the birds and the wind give you some background noise as you give your poor brain some much needed stimulation. And hey, if reading isn’t your thing, go outside, find a chair, sit down, and close your eyes. Just try to stay awake. If you are into reading, might I suggest this... I love it! Sue me…

4. Cook something. Use some spices that you’ve never used before. Make a dish that you’ve never even thought about making. A while back, I made a meal consisting of brown sugar meatloaf, feta mashed potatoes, and cashew broccoli. Now keep in mind, my wife had to teach me how to prepare green beans. You know, open the can, drain the water, sprinkle seasoning, and put them on the stove. Sad. This meatloaf meal was groundbreaking! My wife ended up helping me but it ended up being a whole lot of fun for both of us.

5. Whatever you do, don’t go buy anything. When we get down and we feel trapped by our own inner-boredom, we feel like spending money on that next great thing will all of a sudden change our outlook towards life. This has been one of my biggest problems. I own things that I NEVER use that I NEVER would have purchased had I been in a better state of mind. This is how you run up a credit card.

I say all of that to say this:

Never give up on your masterpiece.

No matter what stands in your way.. Fight through it. There is ALWAYS the other side of whatever storm you may be caught in. Just hold on to what you have and you’ll make it through.

Also, remember this.. While your masterpiece may range from something like this..

To something like this..

There’s a God that created us and loves us with a mad passion who paints things like this…

and STILL calls us his greatest creation.. His masterpiece..

“When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the Heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet: all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas. O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!” - Psalm 8:3-9 (NIV)

Till next time, JW

Writer’s Block

2009-03-10T01:04:00.002-05:00

I am currently experiencing the worst case of writer’s block that I have ever experienced. I cannot, for the life of me, get the many thoughts floating around in my head to work together. I want to write. I want to express myself and my take on different things. I’ll figure it out. Soon.

16 Albums

2009-03-01T23:06:00.003-06:00

"Think of 16 albums that had such a profound effect on you they changed your life or the way you looked at it. They sucked you in and took you over for days, weeks, months, years. These are the albums that you can use to identify time, places, people, emotions. These are the albums that no matter what they were thought of musically shaped your world. When you finish, tag 15 others, including me. Make sure you copy and paste this part so they know the drill. Get the idea now? Good. Tag, you're it!"

Ok, these are in no particular order but here goes:

1. Big Daddy Weave - One and Only --- I had never heard Christian music like this and I haven't heard it since (even from them)... It's fun, positive, and really has a good sound.

2. Derek Webb - House Show --- The songs are great.. The Dylan cover, This World, his own originals, etc... but also his insights in between songs are truly some of the most thought provoking things I've ever heard anyone say.. Maybe I need to listen to more people talk about this stuff, ha...

3. Nine Days - The Madding Crowd --- I don't know why but this was my favorite CD in the world for like 2 years... I have no idea why...

4. Edwin McCain - Messenger --- Nearly every song on this CD takes me to a moment in my life.. I guess because I bought the CD around the time I started driving so its been with me since then. It's been a part of so many moments..

5. Jars of Clay - Jars of Clay, Who We Are Instead --- 2 albums here because I'm going for 16 different artists.. Their first CD, the self-titled one, is a classic and everyone has probably heard every song on it. The best sing, IMO, is "Worlds Apart." Truly incredible... Who We Are Instead is a return to the acoustic success of their first CD and has a much more bluesy, grungy, yet still acoustic feel to it. Beautiful songs... I love it...

6. John Mayer - Continuum --- I've always liked John Mayer but this cd made me really APPRECIATE John Mayer.. Every song on this CD is a beautiful work of art.. It's full of emotion and it's full of great guitar-playing..

7. Nickel Creek - This Side --- Incredible... Can't say much... You just have to go buy it.. It's just Nickel Creek at their finest..

8. Sublime - Sublime --- I don't listen to this much but I like it alot and the music on this CD takes me to MANY moments and emotions in my teenage years and my not-so-distant past as well.. Silly...

9. The Shins - Oh, Inverted World, Chutes Too Narrow, and Wincing The Night Away --- I list all 3 CD's because they feel like one really long cd.. I love this band. I love every song this band has ever written. Their music is VERY unique and inspiring.

10. Blink 182 - Take Off Your Pants & Jacket --- Don't ask me why.. I bought the CD in Greenville a day before it came out and wore it out..

11 - Conor Oberst - Conor Oberst --- It's newer but it has made it onto my list anyway.. I love this guy's music in his band Bright Eyes but his solo CD is alot different in some ways and lends itself to my ears in a much better way..

12. Everlclear - So Much For The Afterglow --- Rawk music, man... I love this stuff, ha..

13. Green Day - American Idiot --- This CD has like 12 tracks but contains about 25 songs I think, ha.. I know its punk rock, but the instrumentation, chord changes, total tempo changes, etc.. are so incredible that it takes a place on this list..

14. Matchbox Twenty - Yourself Or Someone Like You --- No explanation needed...

15. Keith Urban - Golden Road --- The only country album I ever claimed to love.. Dude can play some guitar..

16. Lifehouse - No Name Face --- Just a classic.. Very honest lyrics and one of the more unique voices of our time..

Bored and Grilling Chicken

2009-01-29T23:58:00.004-06:00

I am grilling chicken breasts on the foreman grill right now. Yahoo Answers tells me that it should take around 8 minutes for them to be done. I hope so.. The foreman grill is so tricky sometimes.

Me and Lee are going to launch a website soon. It's nothing too special. Just a place for us to post pictures and stuff like that for family. It should be fun at least. I'll let you know when it's up.

I'm really bored and this post is going nowhere. I'll stop now..

The Delta and the Nelco

2009-01-22T08:30:00.003-06:00

I got my blood sugar and cholesterol tested yesterday and, as expected, they were high.. So to bring them back down, I’ve cut out almost all sugar and cholesterol from my diet.. It’s amazing how motivated you can get when it’s not about losing weight just for the sake of losing weight. Anyways…

I’m going to Greenville this weekend to see my family and we were hoping to catch a movie at some point. Gran Torino or something. Instead, I learned that the Nelco in Greenville has probably the most terrible 6 movie lineup I’ve ever seen… We’ve got:

1. Notorious – Who cares?!? Oh..
2. Hotel For Dogs – Very much a children’s movie..
3. The Unborn – Heck no.. Haaaaaayeck no..
4. Bride Wars – Unabashed chick flick of the month..
5. My Bloody Valentine 3D – Refer back to no. 3
6. Not Easily Broken – Based on a T.D. Jakes book.. No..

6 Movies out right now that are way better than what’s playing.. Actually I’ll give you 12 movies that are out right now and WAY better than what’s playing:

1. Marley and Me/Paul Blart, Mall Cop – How can you not show these?!? Heartwarming.. Funny.. Puppies.. Kevin Effin’ James!
2. Valkyrie/Seven Pounds – Exciting! Pulling at your heart strings! The best Scientology has to offer! Take, eat, be merry!
3. Gran Torino/Defiance – Both seem to be completely BAD… That is all..
4. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button/The Reader – Crazy long backwards movie! Post-war, war trial, finding true love!
5. Yes Man/Tale of Despereaux – Jim Carrey! A big eared computer-animated rat! A bumbling servant girl with cauliflower ears!
6. Ok.. So maybe not 12 movies..

There you have 10 movies that are currently playing at the Malco Grandview here in Madison that are 100% better than even one of the movies playing at the Nelco! My heart hurts over this..

Phychologically, this sort of thing can make a person angry, puzzled, and afraid.. Afraid that someday his theater would turn into another Nelco.. Like a 6 table gourmet buffet that serves nothing but lettuce and dog crap.. Or something like that.. My emotions on this matter have run from:

To:

And now:

Blah.. I’ve got to leave for work in about 2 minutes so I’m going to hop off of here now… Ya’ll come back now, ye hear?!?

Soggy..

2009-01-06T21:58:00.004-06:00

I wish the sun would come back out. It seems like its been raining nonstop for the last month. Our backyard is a marsh... Seriously... I caught my puppy eating my other dog's fresh crap so I was going to go smack his butt and make him come in. Anyways, in my attempt to "chase him down," we embark on this slow-motion soggy romp throughout and around the yard. My foot sunk like 3 inches every time I took a step. He surrendered before I could catch him so instead of smacking his butt, we took a shower... It's ridiculous.. We actually have clovers... Green, green clovers growing out by our shed. It's a swamp. I'm glad I didn't step on a snake..

I was off work today.. That's always nice. I wish could find the motivation to get up and do more productive things when I have the opportunity but oh well.. It was a nice day anyway.. I got up before 6, hung out with Lee before she left for work, watched some Sportscenter, played some Madden, watched the first 25 minutes of the Dark Knight, and almost fell asleep.. Then I ate lunch.. It was one of those days.. Beautiful...

Speaking of previous paragraph's ending adjective, I tuned my acoustic guitar up today and it was beautiful.. Simply beautiful...

By the way, as you can probably see, I've changed the format of my blog. I've added a top 5 list on the right side of the page that I hope to update nearly every day. I'll try to do more of that stuff as I go.. That's all for tonight..

Happy New Years Eve!

2008-12-31T17:59:00.005-06:00

Well, here we sit as the sun sets on 2008. I'm sitting at Barnes and Noble again. This time I'm waiting to meet some friends for supper at P.F. Chang's, which I believe is a pretty good place. We ate there last year at one point and I remember the food being good but we were practically sitting on top of one another. We had a bigger group then though. I think its just 4 this year. Who knows...

We bought some furniture today. There's this place called I.O. Metro and it is really an awesome place that is way less expensive than it looks. We bought a bed and a chair. They were both 50% off and were, IMO, an intense bargain.

My dogs are retarded. That is all.

My wife is reading me a book. It's a book about Savannah who hails from Savannah, Georgia. It's pretty funny although I'm not sure its my style. She is still reading it to me. Duke wasn't her magnolia. The dog liked to pee on trees and flowers but did not want to be named after one. The dog had its pride. I doubt Pink Toes would make it... Interesting...

B&N is closing at 7 tonight since its New Years Eve. I guess that's good since we have reservations at P.F. Chang's at 7.

I bought two new CD's last night. "Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning" and "The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Band" or whatever its called. Bright Eyes, like always, is awesome. The Beatles rock as well and I was glad to find a good Beatles CD for around $10. They are usually so expensive and although I enjoy their music greatly, I'm not spending $20 on a CD. Ever...

Well, I'm going to get off of here and do some web browsing. Have a great new year's eve and an even better 2009. See ya next year!