Pastoral Blog

As God Breathes on Me

enjoy!

Sunday

Today I slept in just a bit but not too much. I awoke, fed the kids, got ready, and went upstairs. I prayed a bit and read a few Psalms. I went back over my sermon and asked the Lord to help me. Afterwards I ate some breakfast, you don't want to know what, and got things in order for service. I was a bit nervous about the sermon for some reason. Most of the time I am very comfortable with the message but it seemed that I struggled a bit with accepting what the Lord wanted. All through the week He kept whispering Mulberry Trees. I kept scratching my head about it till yesterday and i fianlly went to 2 Samuel 5. The Lord was directing me that portion of scripture for a reason and I found out why this morn.

Service starts at 10:30am. Come 10:30 no one was here but Wen and the kids. We began anyway. We took prayer requests and went to God in prayer. When I stood up we had 5 people besides my family; Thank the Lord! I said awesome! Wendy laughed but that's how loose and comfortable I am with what God has called me to do. It was awesome. We went right into service and just let God minister. After the message one of the visitors came to me and told me something that happened to him this week. I hit right on that very subject in my message. I mean it was all but what happened to him. Basically I gave an example, a hypothetical, well really just something that has happened to me but could happen to any of us. Turns out he had an experience this week that was nearly word for word what I spoke about. I have been working with this brother for nearly a year and he and his family show up today and I feel like the Lord spoke directly to him. I believe they will be back. Praise the Lord!


After service we all visited and fellowshipped for a while. Everyone seemed very encouraged and excited. The Lord is doing something among us. I too am thrilled and edified.

We ate lunch as a family here at the house and then piled in the car and went to Antioch for some old fashioned games. They had a picnic as well but we just went for the games. Ricky T. and I won the egg toss once. Josh and Chandler one it the other 2 times. Well actually they tied with Steve and Kim once. We had a pie eating contest where I proudly finished last, bunch of gluttonous slobs they are. LOL! Megan Shaw won! hahahahahah ~snort Then the volleyball net was set up and yes I will probably be sore tomorrow. I stuffed Steve Fox one good time to which I give myself a big pat on the back. Josh Yohe and I both went head to head, face to face, against each other at the net once and we both fell. Problem is I fell on top of him with my elbow in his kidney. OUCH! I give him credit because he got up quick. oooops

Then we went to mom and dad's. That's a first in over a year. it was a bit strange but no too bad. The kids enjoyed themselves. Everyone acted fine.

Slept in

I slept in today till a bit past 9. I think the phone rang or something and got me up. I got up, got dressed, fed the kids, ate some corn dogs and a piece of fudge pie, fixed the kitchen table, looked in the attic at the ac vents, got on line, among other things. Actually after getting dressed I first went upstairs, prayed, and read the Bible a bit.

MawMaw came over to watch the kids so we could go out. We are broke so we didn't have any big plans. We went to eat lunch at Toot's where I ordered the ribs and chicken. We always get fried pickles when we go there and today was no different. Wen ordered the large nachos. Itw as good as usual, our meal in general that is. Toot's is inexpensive and the food is great. At most places I get the same one or two items everytime but not at Toot's. They have a variety that I choose from. Wen and I were able to carry on an intelligent conversation without the interruption of children and babies. MawMaw kept all 6 kids for us (thanks MawMaw).

After lunch I went to see something. LOL! We went to HH Greg's to kill sometime and browse. I like looking at big screens. I can't afford one but I like to dream. When I get one I will get a Dell. They are the best in my opinion. Well we were immediately surrounded by vultures, excuse me, I mean salesman. I wanted to show them my wallet so they'd go away. After that we went to WalMart. Well we did drive around a bit first but were afraid we were going to run out of gas so then we went to Walmart.

At Walmart Wen got some baking supplies and swapped out Caetie's bathing suit. We also got fuel for the car. As usual we caught a bit of slack from customer service. They have the strangest return policy. Why do you have to show your driver's license? What if you don't have one? What if you are not old enough to drive? They sell to non- drivers. Do they not refund money to non-drivers who are unhappy with their purchase?

After Walmart we went to Ritter's and got some frozen custard. Ritter's is the bomb! Wendy had a buy one get one free coupon for sundaes. She got the peantbutter sundae minus the peanut butter sauce. The guy thought she was crazy. I got a banana split. LOL! Wen was jealous! I had chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla custard. The chocolate is the best but the vanilla was great and I am not a vanilla fan. Instead of pineapple sauce I got caramel sauce.

Almost forgot.... At Walmart there was some girl in the return line at the customer service desk. She caught my eye because she was wearing pink camo. Camo always catches my eye especially if it is not the typical military issue. I like the blue and white stuff myself. I told Wen even though she was wearing camo i could still see her big butt. hahahaha

off

I have tomorrow off. Yes a Saturday off. This morning my boss asked what i was doing this weekend. I told him I didn't have any real plans. It has been so long since Saturdays were not mandated that I just didn't make plans. It's kinda hard to believe. Of course in my business there is always the potential of an emergency service call coming up. Keith, the boss, says he tries to determine if they are really emergencies or not though so that we can put them off until Monday.

We got some rain today so the heat was not so much a factor. When I got home i saw that someone had cut the front yard. We had a contractor hired to do the yard work but they became neglectful. I called them last week and they said they'd be out the following day. Well they never showed so I gave up on them. I guess they did not need our business. Another company cuts most of the yards on our steet. I'm gonna hire that company probably. I suppose our neighbor's guy cut our front yard when he cut theirs. The back wasn't touched and neither were the weeds. I'm grateful though and will have to locate the one responsible and pay em.


Ben is screaming and i can't stand it. aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Nuevo Mexican eatery in Smyrna

We saw a new mexican joint in the Smyrna area the other day. It's called

The Lazy Donkey Mexican restaurant

. Lazy Donkey huh? What would be the Biblical name for such a cafe'?

Hot again

It's another scorcher. We need a hurrican' up here in Tennessee. IS that possible? I wish it were but of course Alabama or some poor state would probably not exist any longer if it were to happen. This heat is miserable and it's only the second day of summer. I heard this spring was the warmest on record.

I took the day off and went to the hospital to be with dad. He had angioplasty today. He is is serious pain. He looked miserable. He seemed to ahve alot of trouble lifting his arm up. The doc said his arteries were fine, his heart was in good shape, and no serious blood clots to be concerned with. The staff was excited. Don't get me wrong we don't want dad to have a heart prob. but we do want to know what the prob is. Why all the pain and suffering? They are setting up an appointment for an ultrasound to check out his gall bladder. Yep, you heard it first here, a gall bladder can cause chest pains and arm pains according to his doc. I guess we will see. I just wonder how many days he will have to wait for that appointment. Continue to pray for him please.

Also pray for Molly Pyburn. She has been diagnosed with a brain tumor. I worked with her hubby for several years. She had a seizure one night last week, Wayne rushed her to the hospital, and they found the tumor. She is having surgery tommorrow.

I am so exhausted for some reason. I took a long nap today in the recliner. I haven't done that in a long while. I couldn't hardly get up. Wen had company over and grilled out. I ate a hot dog and crashed. They all sat in the kitchen and had a grand ole time. Sorry guys for being rude. I must be fatigued or something. Who knows!

I am getting in the groove of my new job. Keith, my boss, is really anal about some things though. He is a stickler for paperwork and such. I am as well but he takes it to a totally different level. The paperwork is going to take some getting accustomed to but I will manage. Keith is not an electrician. He is strictly a business man in this company. he is a plumber by trade. He is basically giving me the reigns when it comes to the electrical side of things. It's kinda like having my own business without having to deal with all the financial things.

Summer

Shoooooh weeeee it's HOT!!!

it's a bird, it's a plane, it's a ?

flag burning

I am wore slap out. What does that mean? I am so tired. I was off for nearly a week it seemed and then I have worked overtime both days so far. We have had alot of calls. I'm making twice the money so far though. I really like my new job. I am field superintendant. Sounds so proper and almost sounds like the title an old man might have.

On the way home I saw my old boss on the interstate. I pulled up beside him while I was talking to Wen on the phone. He looked over, looked back at the road, and then did a double take. I laughed so hard! Too funny. I have made more in 2 days that he makes in 5. Of course he gets to sit in the ac and play solitaire all day, but I'll do without.

Today was/is Jodi's birthday. I called her but got her voicemail. I sang Happy Birthday to her Marilyn Monroe style. She called me this afternoon and said it was hilarious.

My dad has to have angioplasty Thursday morn. he has been having chest pains and the doc thinks he has a blockage behing his heart or something. Remember him in prayer. Also remember Karen Almeida when you pray.

Does flag burning offend you? I heard today that Congress was looking to pass a Constitutional ban against burning the US flag. Wouldn't that be a restriction of rights. I mean you don't have certain rights such as the right to harm someone or damage their property but does it really hurt to burn a symbol? For some reason this Congress seems to be trying their best to have a Constitutional Convention. That scares me. Just let the flag burners be. Besides, it doesn't happen that often.

Reminded for some reason

For some reason I was just reminded of something. Actually I was reading Grayson's blog and he had a survey there. It asked if you have ever smoked a peanut. A couple of years ago a good friend of mine snorted a smartie that he ground up. He almost died!

Did you here what they're using to cut coke these days? Splenda; it makes diet Coke.

hahahahahahaha hardy har har A retired state trooper told me that one today.

Back in the groove

It has been awhile since I did electrical work for a living. Today I got my new truck and started my new job. I filled out alot of paperwork and then did some service calls. I made twice as much money as I would have for CTIS/Comcast. I did work overtime today though. I was late getting in. The boss was sorry that he needed me to work over. He apologized.

I will have to get yall a picture of my truck. It's the strangest thing I have ever seen. It has a work bench in the back, plenty of drawers, and shelves. You'll just have to wait and see the pics. I can only desribe it as a rolling billboard.

On a different note.....
I had a very vivid, spiritual dream last night. It kept me up some, bothered me, concerned me, and lead me to prayer. I awoke this morning went to the Lord in prayer and He moved in me. I asked Him to reveal the dream to me; to help me to discern and understand the dream. After prayer I went to the Word to learn more about my Lord. I am so excited about what the Lord is doing. There is liberty where the spirit of the Lord is! Before the morning was up I had the interpretation of the dream and now I am on a mission for God.

Sanctuary

This morning we had service. Currently we have service in the upper room, LOL, of our home. We can seat about 20 there for now. We opened with scripture reading from Psalm 18 and went before the Lord in prayer. Afterwards we went into song service where we winged through a couple of choruses. Following song service we entered into the message. I am not one for having a Father's Day message or a Mother's Day message, a sermon on freedom for the 4th of July, or a be thankful message near Thanksgiving but this week I was praying, meditating, and just looking to God for inspiration. I knew Father's Day was today. Also I knew that the children and Wendy had purchased gifts for me and that they were dieing to give them to me. They were excited about honoring me. I was reflecting on God, my Father, and asked Him how I might honor Him. He pointed me towards the passage of Scripture in Luke 15 verse 11 about the prodical son. He also took me back to a time where I was on fire for him.

In 2003 I was a youth pastor and sold out to God as we say. Daily I read, studied, and meditated upon God's Word. I was alive and excited about prayer and communication with God. I was appointed youth director/pastor having no youths besides my wife and I. We immediately went to work to grow the work to the glory of the Lord. God blessed and in no time we had 22 youth in a church where previously I was the youngest member. This was in a church where there were less than 10 total members and all but 3 were of retirement age. We saw souls saved, healings including my oldest son who was suffering from epileptic seizures, youth baptized, workings of the Spirit, people join the church, etc. I was a counsellor in camp where we had a family of kids who I suppose had a hard time in life. One child in particular refused to open up. his younger brothers were active at camp, friendly, and loving. They had a great time but this one child was obviously bound. The lord impressed me to be a blessing to Him in a specific way. I did. The young child began to open up and one night in service he yielded to the Spirit and was set free. We wrestled with the enemy in the altar that evening but God prevailed. He was changed immediately. After that night he was a new child. The testimony of his mother and pastor was that he was alive for God.

I say these things to make a point and by no means boast of myself. During this time period I witnessed the Lord do many mighty things in my ministry. He exercised great discernment at times through me. He gave me wisdom that I had never had. The anointing of the Lord was overwhelming at times but wonderful. Our services were powerpacked. God used me to interpret a message in tongues one Sunday morn. This was new for me. One Sunday evening the Lord prophesied through me of a demonic atttack that would take place in our local church. I will never forget that service.

A few months down the road the enemy came in like a flood. The lord lifted up a standard in accordance to His Word but we humans failed. The flesh rose up, the enemy sought whom he may devour, strife, division, and discord ensued. My family was personally attacked by evil and caused physical, mental, and emotional trauma. People took sides, drew lines, and refused to let God be true and all men liars. I was disfellowshipped for pointing out Satan. My wife was charged also. I was totally betrayed. I could not get out of bed for three days. it was the worst thing that has ever happened to us. With all that had already happened and then our church family turning a blind eye and their backs on us.

well God showed me this week that instead of placing the blame squarely on the enemy and human flesh I blamed Him and forsook Him for a short while. God was not scolding me. He was not prodding me. He was helping me to honor Him. I did give up on God. I backslid! I was a horrible person to be around. At times I considered physical retribution upon those that hurt my family. I was hetful, bitter, angry, and sinful. Thank the Lord I was delivered from that in an old fashioned service where the pastor of an independant church had no problem preaching about conviction, the Lord's mercy , and the eternal destination of sinners. I ran to an altar to repent and beg God for mercy. he delivered me, sanctified me, and filled me with His Spirit again.

We were still hurt and we began to have services in our home. We were forbidden to come back to the local church by the deacon. It was for the best anyhow. God revived us and shortly after we moved to NC and pastored a new church work. It was in NC that we grew and matured greatly in the Lord. I will never despise our going there. I will always cherish it as a work of God. We obeyed our conscience, came back to TN, and sought God for the next move.

Well since then we have waited upon the Lord. He inspired us to open this new work called Sanctuary. Of course the enemy will kick and scream but God has a plan. My job has hindered me from my family and from digging in spiritually. The Lord delivered me from my old job this week, supplied me with one that will work well with family and church, and showed me how to honor Him. I have to get back into His Word daily. I must read, study, and meditate like before. I need to get to know jesus again and more. As I was preaching on this there was a knock at our door. It was Brother Rosario and a friend of his. I haven't seen him since May 2004 just before I moved to NC. I have looked him up but he has never been home when I stopped by. He joined us in our service and said he would be back Wednesday and that he would bring more people. The Lord is so good. Thus far Father's Day has been wonderful. God's spirit was among us, we wept, we prayed, we worshipped, and we relished.

Brad's benefit

We attended Brad's Benefit last night. The food was great and there was plently of it. I always hated attending a dinner where you had to nibble, only ate finger foods, or 2 families shared a can of peas. The decor was nice as well. I saw several of Brad's friends in attendance for the dinner too.

After dinner we moved to the front where a singing took place. There were a few arranged testimonies and one or two spontaneous ones. ~cringed At one point I thought part of the variety show that Rachel R. spoke of was on stage. Oh well! Some parts were good and others not so good. Sister Megan signed a song at the end and as usual it was a tremendous blessing. A young boy who was hearing impaired was there. he was fascinated by the banjo playing of Brother McCormick. It seemed that he did not know sign language though. If he did I would think he would have paid attention to Megan as she signed her song.

Nearly $5,000 was raised for Brad's expenses. It's but a drop in the bucket but every penny is needed. It was a sad occassion in some ways, almost like a funeral. One singer even read some verses from Revelation, made mention of one young man who passed on a couple of years ago, and said if we all overcome we will be reunited with him and Brad in eternity. I asked Wen if Brad was dead. Come on!

Free Saturday

I slept in today which is rare for a Saturday. Use to I had to be at the office by 6:30am. Those days are over. I mean I may have to work every now and then but not scheduled. I would have slept longer but a phone call about 9:30am woke me up. What a drag! I didn't even answer it. It happened to be an informer. They called back later though and gave us the scoop. We feel like Fox News; we report, you decide.

After the kids had breakfast I fixed myself something. I warmed up left over chicken and rice. Yummy! The kids decided to give me my Fahter's day gifts this morn. They were excited and of course I was also. I got 2 dress shirts with neckties. They also got me a pair of sandals, New Balance Athletic Shoes, a new pair of sunglasses, an airbrushed SuperMan license plate, and several t-shirts (multi-colored). The glasses are just like the blue ones in my avatar but they are red and the frames are sorta bronze or something. They were also going to get me a membership at a 24 hour gym near the house. It's closer than the Y and of course the timing factor is no longer a factor. I think they said it was like $16.00 a month. I love all my gifts and appreciate them as well. Thanks kids.

Wen went to WalMart, the kids cleaned up the house. I fixed them lunch, and then they played outside for a bit. They came in and laid down for a little nap before Brad's benefit tonight. Wen got home and I had screwed the range hood back up, cleaned up the mess I had strowed from my CTIS vehicles, and was helping Caet put up clean clothes. Also I had updated my resume as well as Mike's (715/CTIS) resume. I emailed it to a guy that does wireless surveillance for businesses. We might do some work on the side for him. I then helped Wen bring in and put away the groceries.

After all that was done I went and laid in my hammock which happens to be what the kids got me for Father's day last year. It was hot and I probably got a bit of a sunburn. Well now we are all showered, bathed, groomed, and about to head to Antioch for Brad's benefit. C-Ya!

Lead Tech again....

....not for Comcast or CTIS though! I accepted a position with a company called "The Electrician". I am their lead service technician. I was given a nice salary, company vehicle, profit sharing, commissions, paid vacation, paid holidays, and the promise of moving into an office manager/service manager type position as the company expands. The only bad thing about taking this job was that I had to contact Dynamic Electric and tell them their offer had been beaten and that i would not be accepting a position with them. That was hard because I know how bad Dynamic needs someone and they really wanted me. It feels good to be wanted!

I start Monday morn at my new job. The boss, Keith, said i was the first person he ever hired on the spot. He said he just felt it was right. he says he is a Christian and he is happy with the idea that I am pastoring a church. he was a bit afraid that I might begin to pastor fulltime and thus quit him. I told him that was not gonna happen. I am very excited about this. My work day will begin at 7am and for all intents and purposes end around 4pm. If I'm in the middle of a call I'll need to complete it of course.

volleyball

Played volleyball tonight. It was cool; it was fun. Pretty disorganized which usually chaps me, but I had a good time. I did see some nonplayas tho. LOL! The key to volleyball is to hit the ball up and at least in the direction of the opposite side of the playing field/court.

There was a Bilbe devotion before the cookout and games. We learned that God has a G.P.S. I've never heard such. I wonder if God told Solomon what latitude and what longtitude to build the Jewish Temple on?

ADVICE? ha

and yes, that is a ballgame being played in the background of my avatar. I know many of you have never seen one of those and many of you have though you don't want anyone to know.

free and clear

I have officially resigned from CTIS. I am no longer a cable slave. No longer will I have to suffer at the hands of Communistcast. Of course I still remain a customer and have to suffer with their high prices as long as I use their services. I have considered switching to Direct TV but don't like the thought of a contract.

Tomorrow I go see Keith with the Electrician. he called and is very excited about meeting with me and me possibly joining his team. I so hope his offer to me is good because I really want to dive into that job.


Does anyone else have any proposals for the name of my pastoral blog?

Pray for Full Quiver

I have told CTIS, my current employer, that I am quitting. I will turn my truck in tomorrow. I am deciding between being a foreman at Dynamic Electric or being a service tech at The Electrician. Pray that i make the right decision.

This will be so much better for my family, the ministry, and my health. I need a slow down when it comes to hours worked. I feel good about this move and it is long over do.

I feel like the ministry is about to bust loose. The devil fought us hard for a couple of weeks but we have overcome through Christ. Many people have come out of the wood work and shown interst in Sanctuary just this week. Only God knows!

Welch's Fruit Snacks

Welch's has great fruit snacks. They are healthy and great tasting. You can buy them by the box at the grocery or by the bag at the gas station. The strawberry ones are great. Just be careful; one just rolled down my throat and I almost choked. That would not have been good considering I had a mouth full of gummy snacks.

TDoS

The Tennessee Dept. of Safety is a joke. I paid my fines, paid my tickets, went to court, went to traffic school, blah-blah-blah-blah-blah and they still said I owed $65 a suspended my license. I called the Smyrna court clerk and she said TDoS was very bad at record keeping and causing alot of problems. She called TDoS and got it straightened out for me. i am so relieved. That's one more bit of stress off of me.

Suntrust and their many balances! They have an available balance which considers the amounts that have been held/swiped/soon to be charged on the customer's debit card. The collected balance is what is actually in the account. If your available balance dips below zero then you are hit with an insufficient funds charge. Now they say you can't use money more than once. in other words if you have an available balance of $50 and you use your card to purchase $35 in gas and then later $20 in pizza then they hit you for an INS/insufficient funds charge. Granted your collected balance aka actual funds in the account may be $220 at the time. Suntrust immediately deducts their INS fees even though the available balance is a negative $5 which means $170 of the collected (actual) balance which was promised to business before you bought the gas and pizza is suddenly short $32.00. Then if one of those previous debits "posts/clears" they hit you for another INS fee. A snowball effect then occurs. My point here is that Suntrust considers you to be wrong for originally going over your available balance by $5 and thus using that $5 more than once. They then use at least $32 that they originally promised to a business such as Walmart or Home Depot. How unethical of them! Do you follow?

If young girls say hollah and Mexicans say hola.... just forget it.

snooze

The clock by my bed is set 15 minutes fast. i know, I know why you ask. Cause I want to. When the alarm sounds in the mornings, well when the radio comes on, I always hit snooze except for this morning when it was on for over and hour before Wen finally woke me up. After the snooze times out I hit snooze again, and again, and again. The question I have is why is every snooze set at a 9 minute interval? I mean is the definition of snooze a 9 minute nap? I was reading Jason Mullins blog and saw that he hit snooze and 9 minutes later his alarm sounded again. This struck a cord with me. Why is it that the snooze is a 9 minute period of time?

i

Why is it then when I type I almost always end up not capitalizing the word I? I mean it is like 95% of the time. I am constantly backing up and retyping the word and even then sometimes it still doesn't capitalize. I hold down the shift key but I end up with a lower case I. Sometimes it makes me think how insignificant I am in the entire scheme of life and that I need to decrease so that god can increase. Of course during the course of this post I was able to capitalize every I when using it as a word. imagine that! OOOPS!

Background Image

Currently my background image is the ocean and a beach. I love these type images because I love the beach and the ocean. I can't swim but I just love the awe of the place. The sounds, nature, the majesty. I think God made something wonderful when He seperated land from water.

We went to the ocean a couple of times when we were living in North Carolina. Prior to that it had been several years since I had been. I love the ocean and wish I lived closer. We are planning a trip to the Atlantic soon. I can't wait.

I have a hammock out back that Wen and the kids bought for me last Father's Day. Sometimes when i lay in it I dream about being on the beach. Maybe I can retire and have my own place on the beach with a hammock.

Clothing Line

I thought it would be cool to start a new line of clothing called "Full Quiver". How cool would that be? A line of clothing created just for mid aged slobs. A clothing line for the happily mnarried men who would like to look as cool as they really are but have trouble expressing that in their wardrobe or dressing habits. A clothing line just for those who are still young in heart but don't want to be offensive or immodest. So, whattya say?

Blogging

Although Wen did create this new blog site for me it didn't work out that well. It was attached to my work blog and therefore they shared the same profile and picture. I did not like that so we made some changes. Now my two blogs are totally seperate. Shoot, I may even starta third blog for pastoring. What could i call it? let's have a contest. Name my third blog. It will be about spiritual matters. It may have sermon excerpts or tidbits of inspiration I have received. Of course there will be no private details about members and such. Yeah that's too bad for the nosey ones among us. So, help me name my pastoral blog.

Yes i am a pastor for those that did not know. It is the second time I have taken up this challenge. i absolutely loved it the first go around. it was a wonderful experience and I learned so much about life, people, and god. I am really looking forward to the weeks and months ahead. Already in just the first few weeks I have learned so much and grow alot spiritually. Yes I know this is not my pastoral blog but this is part of Full Quiver.