tidbits

I totally love roast beef sandwiches with cheddar cheese on some wheat bread.

I am diggin' on the new Generation Unleashed worship CD.

I'm feeling refreshed after a very productive day out of the office.

I love how clean my carpets are.  I'm kind of a neat freak.

I'm planting new shrubs with my father this Friday in front of my house, a very ambitious undertaking.

I'm trying to plan our summer vacation and it just isn't falling together easily.

I like Led Zeppelin.

I enjoy coffee way too much, especially espresso made on the stove-top.

I'm kinda tired of guessing how cold or hot it's gonna be each day.  I want to wear shorts and flip-flops with confidence.

I have a tooth that hurts all the time.  I need to get that looked into.

This weekend, we're doing a drama at church that should be amazing and emotional and I have to sing all the way through it.  I'm afraid I might cry.

My parents are amazing.  My mom came to visit this past Sunday.  Some blessings can never be over-stated.

I started eating Peanut M&Ms the other day, after I committed to not eat any sweets for three months.  I had to get back on the wagon ... it was a difficult climb.

I love the TV Show "House".  House is a jerk, a horrible boss, an addict, a manipulator, a pervert, an atheist, and everything else that's bad in the world except ... he's got remarkable conviction.  I wish I operated with that kind of conviction in Jesus.

I love sunny days with no clouds in the sky ... the sun makes everything feel ok.

I love it when my wife gets home ... how she still has to kiss me first, even if she has to pee really bad.

I love it how, in small ways everyday, I'm reminded that Jesus is all I really need.

Dirty.

I grew up in suburban Charleston, with houses right next door and dirty city air.  My family often escaped to a vacation home my parents owned in North Carolina, and when we did, we found ourselves in wide open space, which is extremely exciting to a ten year old boy.

There was this time when my sister and I, as children, were riding bikes on my parent's property in North Carolina.  A large hill emptied itself into a stream, and my father had cut out a trail on the hill: straight down from the top, into the puddles of the stream below.  

It began really innocently, fast and furious down the hill, through the mud, and back up again.  The mud began to accumulate, and when we came back up to the cabin on the property, my parents had to hose us off.  We were covered in mud.

There are moments in life where we're reminded of how dirty we are.  Sometimes it comes immediately, but sometimes we've been playing in the mud for quite a while before we realize it.

Jesus calls us to be clean.  There is no doubt about that.  His standard is spotless.  His standard is perfection.  And we are faced with the reality that we are not meeting and cannot meet that standard.

Today is one of those days for me.  It's not an easy feeling, or a pleasant one.  But, in the long run, this is one of those realities that draws me to Jesus.

I often think of this ride I took with my youth pastor several years after I had graduated.  My youth pastor, Jerry, was instrumental in communicating Jesus to me in a way that impacted my life.  I had never known Jesus before as wanting to change me; I only thought He was changing where I went.  Jerry was about as much like Jesus as I could imagine.  While we were riding Jerry sighed "You know, the longer I follow Jesus the more I'm convinced of how rotten and sinful I am and how much I need Him."

I'm glad that I'm reminded of how dirty I am occasionally.  I'm glad, because it reminds me of how much I truly need Jesus.

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Listening to: Aqualung "Pressure Suit"

Cold Medicine.

Pollen is out in full force.  If you lived in the southeastern portion of the United States, you would understand this.  My black Volkswagen is now distinctly lime green.  This is quite troubling, especially if your nose doesn't get along well with pollen, as mine chooses to do.  

I wish the two could make up: the nose could somehow make nice with the pollen, but inevitably it's not gonna happen.  Every year when my car changes color, my nose gets mad at the pollen.  One would think that a nose is not quite picky about the color of a car, but apparently mine has such appetites.  

During the seasons where my car changes colors, I am forced to take cold medicine.  Cold medicine is something just shy of crack to me.  When I take it, it's a crap shoot as to the effects.  I can be lightheaded.  I could be moody.  I might be really happy or unbelievably depressive.  Today, I am neither, a bit indifferent.

I was just sitting here noticing that I was feeling this way, and when I say feeling this way I am referring to a distinct feeling.  Have you ever noticed that your moods, attitudes, and even decisions are being motivated by your feelings?  I notice that frequently.  

A few moments ago I was going down this inward, depressive road that I can sometimes go, and I realized, "I took some cold medicine this morning."  I was immediately relieved.  I was off the hook of that ugly depressive path.

It's moments like these that I am reminded that we need to be anchored into something bigger than ourselves, grounded by something thats outside of ourselves, and guided by something with a larger perspective than ourselves.  

Yet again, another reason I'm thankful for Jesus.  He reminds me that I just took cold medicine this morning and I need to eat some lunch.  He reminds me that peace is not something I have, it's something He is.  And He is with me.

So, I'm gonna straight up drink some OJ, take this cold medicine, and trust Jesus with it all.

Listening To: "Who You Are" The Cary Brothers.

Stoked About: Working on my book tonight.

Evenings.

Tonight I cooked steaks for dinner, took a bath (remember on Friends ... the one where Chandler takes a Bath), and watched a movie in bed with my wife.  Really, could life get any better? I submit that it could not.

Sometimes its just nice to be reminded again of what's important.  

the Elevator.

I'm trying to live life on the elevator.

Elevators are automated devises that carry you upward (and maybe downward once they have already delivered you to your prior point of interest). 

Once on the elevator, you don’t really do anything to move, except possibly press a button.  Upon pressing the previously mentioned button, you are hurled seamlessly in an upward direction with a distinct amount of force, thrusting you in the aforementioned upward direction.

Jesus is an elevator.

He does the work to take my life beyond what it is normally.

Grace is extended with each floor that is passed, with each victory that is won.

So … I’m trying to live life in the elevator.