Don't Complain get in the game!

Take 12 minutes and watch this!



I watched this video today and had many thoughts go through my mind about how and why I say or do what I do. Usually something will happen or doesn't happen and I complain about it. My day doesn't go the way I planned......heck life does't have a plan.

When I feel myself getting a little down or overwhelmed or I am complaining I dive into something that will get me out of that mind frame. I will take on a project, bury myself in responding to emails or do some household chores. Getting into the game gets me away from the obsticles that I feel may be holding me up. I usually ask God to give me guidence to get through the complaining or obsticles and get me going again. Usually not long after i have this talk I am back in the game.

Don't sit on the sidelines and complain......get in the game!

Why do I remember this?

I was browsing my Youtube account and came across this




99 Luft Balons...The one hit wonder from my high school years when they played videos on MTV. As soon I saw this it was as if I was watching it on MTV in my youth. The song is in German but I know the lyrics! Why is that stuck in my mind taking up valuable space. Watching made me think of things I can see in my mind that maybe only happened once or a a person I met only once but the image is forever in mind.

I vividly remember crashing my moped and getting stitches in my chin, I remember sitting at the gas station while on vacation as a 7 year old waiting for he car to get fixed, I remember watching a tornado go around Boone when I was 7 years old. I also remember some fun things such as getting a hit in little league (yeah I was bad!), riding bikes all over the neighborhood in the summer, playing in the cornfield across the street from our house and making mazes in the corn ( I am sure the farmer was not to pleased with any of us!

All of this brings me to a question that I get asked and I don't seem to have that one no doubt about moment when I knew it happened. The question is when were you born again or when did you accept Jesus as your savior. This is a tough question for some people and for others it is not. I have been on mission trips and done some other things through church that have given me a mountaintop God moment. If you are like me I was baptized as an infant and grew up in church until about 2 grade when my parents divorced and then really didn't go much until I got married and had kids. I now right now I do not have that "no doubt about it moment", sometimes I wonder if I am there yet? And by there I mean am I where God wants me to be, are there other things that I have yet to experience that when I am older I will say yep that's it! I am not saying that I am not a full fledged christian yet but maybe but rather God has some other experiences he is going to show me to affirm what I already believe and feel. This week I received an application and instead of being called an application it was titled "Getting to know you". I liked that it felt warmer than an application.On the back was the question, "When did you find your trust in Jesus?" I really really liked this question! As I read this question and looked back for that "moment" that I trusted Jesus. When I thought about it I think that ever since I met my wife my trust grows everyday. She is a great spouse and she is always pushing us to deepen our trust in God (sometimes I do not want to hear it). My wife has allowed me to do some things in the last 2 years that I cannot thank her enough for and one of them was waking me up and challenging me to deepen my trust in God.

The Jalapenos always Get ya!

If you read any of my post you know one of my favorite sayings is "Life is not like a box of Chocolates its more like a Jalapeno...what you do today will bite your backside tomorrow."

Well I did something last week (not against the law or involving a commandment) but without telling the person that means the most to me (my wife) I went out and purchased a truck to use for tree plantings and other volunteer work I do instead of having to borrow a truck and line transportation up every time I needed said truck. I had mentioned it before and had packed away but I always kept my mind open for just the right one! I was out last Thursday and I found it. A beauty of a truck, well taken care of and I gave the salesman a ridiculous offer and they took it. As I looked at the paper to sign for the truck, I kept thinking is this what God wants me to do and will it help to glorify his work....to which I answered well yes! But then I thought my wife doesn't know and she is going to be upset that we didn't talk about it first. So when I told her she was more upset than I imagined she would be and though the course of conversation I found out some things I wish I would have known before I signed the papers for the truck.

Hindsight being 20/20 I would probably would have not only followed Gods will but make sure that when 2 become one during marriage that I follow it no matter how good my intentions may be. I am truly sorry to my wife for making this decision without her agreement.

Awesome Cookies!

On Saturday May 2, 2009 Project 52 planted its first tree to remember for Justin Volzke in Utica Nebraska. Justin's dad Hollis Volzke was on the Honduras Mission trip in 2006, so we called to have the first tree be planted for Justin. As you can see the sun was out and it was a beautiful day. We had around 30 or so friends and family come out to Centennial High School to help plant and dedicate the tree. It was great to see some old friends that we had met on our trips to Honduras and to also meet some of Justin's classmates.

This was our first tree planting so you are always a little worried how is it going to go. On the ride home I couldn't think of anything that I would have done differently or better yet forgot.

Wondering why I titled this blog "Awesome Cookies"? I sent an email a while back to some of the fellow Project 52 board members telling them I wanted to start making cookies and seeing the tolls of the labors of Project 52 instead of talking about and sending emails back and forth about what a web page should look like or what the brochure should say. Planning for Project 52 has been a long process, but one that I feel was in God's time. It was time to make cookies and to enjoy them. God tells us to GO make disciples of all nations not to talk about how good it would be if you did it. I realize that things should not be rushed and done haphazardly but time comes when you have to take that first step.

I really felt God's and Justin's presence on Saturday. It wasn't something that you can say yes that was definitely it, but rather a feeling from inside. Maybe God did give me one sign on Saturday some folks brought refreshments that included.....you guessed it......Cookies!

Amazed!

The first time I viewed this video was Friday at church during Good Friday service. What an awesome song and video to wrap up a awesome message. I left service practically in tears and well...........Amazed.

Last Sunday I was on Urban Plunge and it was Palm Sunday. We visited a church that had an outreach to the homeless and less fortunate in the community. The Pastor challenged everyone to a little home work. He asked them to read the account of Holy Week in one of the gospels. So Monday morning I started reading the account in Matthew, Mark and Luke. As I read the account this week I had an "Ahh haa" moment when it all kind of clicked. I don' t think I fully understood what Jesus did his last week from riding in on a donkey to rising from the tomb. Most of my weeks are busy but nothing can relate to what Jesus did in his last week. This year on Friday it felt a little different in service. Maybe my faith and belief caught up with my mind or better yet I think my mind caught up with my faith. No matter the case ( I prefer the latter) Easter had a new meaning for me this year.

Maybe it was serving on Urban Plunge last year or maybe it is spending time talking to God when I am walking the dog that made it all click or have a new meaning. This video certainly did it for me. I was Amazed and am today, Amazed that by Grace I am free.

Hope everyone had a Blessed Easter!

Cooper

After talking about getting a dog for many months and maybe longer we now have a new family member. Cooper is a shih-poo (cross between a poodle and a shih tzu) and is 4 months old. He came to us from a lady in her 80's that felt she could give the proper time to an ambitious and very playful puppy. The kids renamed him Cooper (a name they have had picked out for a long time) and he has picked up on some of the commands and training that we have given him. He know his name, he know the command come and he loves to play fetch. Potty training is 85% successful, he know what he is supposed to do but to get him to do that on a consistent basis will take some time. The biggest problem so far has been the playful biting and biting items in the house that has been the biggest issue. His favorite chew toy thus far is my hand. So I spend some time scouring the internet for tips and ideas to stop the biting. The underlying message in all of this is be consistent and it takes time. I think often bout how we train our kids to do things. They didn't get it the first time. I am not a patient person so for me to be able to take the time to do this the correct way is going to take some time and teach me patience...more than I have on a most days and even more on the no so good days. I thoroughly enjoy taking Cooper for walks and you get to experience all that God has created and I can talk to God as I walk (along with the Dog). If one of the kids goes for a walk as well it is some time to hear about their day or what their minds are thinking. I also enjoy the evening when Cooper is tired and wants nothing more to sit at your feet or on your lap and sleep. He loves to have his belly rubbed and they say that shows trust. My wife asked me how long the new patient and a bit more laid back Bill will last. It may last a while. Cooper sleeps through the night and the storms we have had so far don't seem to bother him and that will help the patience factor immensely. I am reminded of 2 things through this process that God doesn't give you more than you can handle and take time to enjoy the little things.

Is it Fifty-two or Five-two?

So today I am out running a few errands and I have to stop at the local Christian bookstore and I see an advertisement for the Sonshine Music Festival in Wilmar Minnesota and it has David Crowder on it so I check it out. David Crowder is my all time favorite but a name jumped off the page and caught my attention. KJ 52 is the name....if you read the blog you know that 52 is a number that I am a big fan of for some very special reasons. I came across this video and I was blow away. It seems to be written for Project 52 and how it can LEAD/INSPIRE/MOTIVATE young adults. From the first line of this video my jaw dropped.

We live behind the pretend world. We say hey I am fine I got nothing bad going on in my life or you think hey this will not happen in my house and then it does. You wonder why God would let this happen as you try to be a good person but then the silent bomb goes off. Maybe if you took the time to talk to God before these things happen but you cannot be so sure. Maybe we wouldn't have these issues but then I look up the lyrics to this song and it counld not be said any better:

If I could write to every kid that’s out there, Every kid that’s hurting feels like nobody cares, I would tell them that God can wipe away tear, And he's right near and I would say it quite clear, Your here for a reason you’re not a mistake, You are a special creation that God himself made, To the victims of abuse to every girl that was raped ,You can live you can be free from your pain, And find strength and no longer be ashamed, You can find peace and hope In Jesus name You, aint gotta live with this hurt every day, Christ came to give you life in a much better way, To every kid right now that’s full of hate, And bitterness I'd tell em just to give it all away, To the one that came to take all the blame, That’s what I’d write here’s what I’d say

Amen! We need to listen to or kids, talk to our kids and tell them that God loves them more than we ever could as a parent and this parent loves his kids a whole lot! If you are struggling with something in your life. Talk to someone! Talk to me I will listen!