week in review

Where has this month and year gone? I cannot believe that tonight high school football starts, Tuesday is the first day of September, college football starts, next week and the pros one week later!

I always enjoy the beginning of football season for many reasons. Other than loving the game of football, I know that by the end of football season, the weather will be cool (wait it's only going to be in the 60's on Sunday) and the holidays are almost here.

This week, Brandon sold his truck and bought a new to him car, thanks Ron for taking care of him. Corey was offered a job working for Abbott through Manpower, and Tyler made it back from his weekend team building experience with his cohort for the new leadership class he will be starting.

Angela and i have been re-adjusting to having Brandon back in the house. His lease ran out and since he will be moving to Kansas soon, he is staying at home for a month. #1 nephew Blake spent the night last night since his mom is still radioactive from taking her cancer treatment (update today, Angela said Pam is doing much better today, thanks for the prayers).

Finally got Rhoda's emptied out of all things worth keeping. As a part of this my dad had to clean out his room to make room for a new bed we brought from Aunt Rhoda's house. Seems like his bed was the same one they bought when they moved into the house ..... in 1975! Dad said he had to put several blankets down to keep the springs from poking him in the middle of the night. When they moved the old bed out, Corey said there about an inch of dust underneath it, UGH! Dad did throw out about 200 magazines he had been saving in the bedroom, because he knew that one day he would get around to reading them. NOT! Just glad he got rid of them. They also have a full size freezer in their garage that I suggested he get rid of because it has not worked in probably 20 years. He said no because one of these days they might need it because it probably needs just a shot of freon. I told him freon was outlawed about 1995 and that he could not get it anymore and that if he "had not got around to it" by now the odds are he never would. The funny thing is their freezer in the house hardly has anything in it so I cannot imagine why would want or need a full size one.

He also called someone haul away the junk leftover from Aunt Rhoda's house. That turned into one of the funniest things this summer, because he called all excited and asked , "What is the difference between trash and junk?" This led to a long and funny (to me) conversation about how people viewed things, poor Angela was in the middle of that conversation for some reason and was perplexed by the whole thing. I just told Dad that junk is things you find at yard sales, and if nobody buys it then it becomes trash. It all started because he wanted to make sure what to tell the junk man to haul away, and would he haul away the trash too or did we have to call someone else? all I know is they were supposed to come today, so we will see if they took it all or not.

Fantasy Football draft is this weekend, I love playing this. I am in a league with people from church and another one with family members. It makes watching football even more interesting.

Finished teaching at MVNU last night, class ended well. It was the smallest class I ever taught, only 4 people. but all were Christians and we had good discussions about human resources (subject of the class) and our christian walk.

Think the is all for now, Go Newark High Wildcats (I played there a long time ago) who are playing Zanesville tonight. That was our arch rival back in the day, last game of the season, today they are in different leagues and play during the first week.

That's all for now, keep praying for Pam Thomas and her recovery, go to church this Sunday and show someone how much you love them this weekend, because talk is cheap and actions speak louder then words!

Pressing on!

Jeff

Debt Clock - when will it stop?

Ye Olde Mill CONNECT Group 2009

The Paula Deen Workout (for Angela)

The Paula Deen Workout

Shared via AddThis

Discouragement

Been talking to some people both at work and outside work who are very discouraged. In some cases they have good reasons, no job, broken relationships, medical problems, money problems, etc. I have been doing doing ok personally but things with my mom, cars and life in general can bring you down if you let them.

This week my quiet time has been on this subject. Psalm 16:7-11 says

7-8 The wise counsel God gives when I'm awake is confirmed by my sleeping heart. Day and night I'll stick with God; I've got a good thing going and I'm not letting go.
9-10 I'm happy from the inside out, and from the outside in, I'm firmly formed. You canceled my ticket to hell— that's not my destination!
11 Now you've got my feet on the life path, all radiant from the shining of your face. Ever since you took my hand, I'm on the right way.

Dr. Charles Stanley can say it better than I can;

"Discouragement is a powerful, destructive force. Before we can understand how to rid our lives of this deadly landmine, we must recognize its harmful nature.

Understand that discouragement…

1. Is something we choose. Nobody else can make us discouraged; it is a choice that we alone make when facing disappointments.

2. Is universal. Everybody will face periods of disappointment and discouragement from time to time. This simply cannot be avoided, because we live in a seriously flawed world that is filled with equally flawed people.

3. Can recur. Sometimes we think we’ve settled an issue, which later resurfaces when we least expect it. Or, we may have old emotional wounds that are torn open by something a person says or does.

4. Can be temporary—or it can destroy our life. The choice is ours. If we refuse to deal with discouragement head-on, we are opening the door for it to completely dominate our life.

5. Is conquerable. With the Lord’s help, we can choose not to be discouraged. If we don’t believe discouragement can be conquered, then we’re actually saying that God doesn’t want His children to have a rich and fulfilled life.

Are you stuck in the throes of discouragement? If so, it will simply be impossible to experience the peace and inner joy that God wants for His children. Let Him help you out of that lowly state: start by believing that the Father wants to lift you up and get your life back on track with Him. "

someone out there needed me to share this, Pressing On!

knew this had to happen!

NOTE: watch this video all the way through.

Tuesday update

Things still progressing on many fronts:

• Tyler got into the program he had applied, 2 years of school fully paid for and assistant principal job when he gets done.
• Brandon introduced us to Julie's parent, John and Connie Barnes. Nice folks, took them to see the Longaberger Basket building after we ate Pizza Cottage pizza.
• Corey is discovering the realities of working. He is discovering that sometimes hiring managers make the job sound just a little bit better than it really is. But at least he has a job and making some money.
• Angela is still working on flowers in her spare time.
• Can't figure out my mom, she just cannot seem to get better. 1st it was her shoulder, now it is her feet, not sure what to do or how to help. dizzy without her meds, dizzy with them
• Need to sell a car, we bought another one and do not need three, price dropping by the day
• Things at church going great, new families visiting our class and joining the church. Big changes coming this fall, just as I rotate off church council. Good luck to those that take my place.
• Teaching at Mount Vernon Nazarene College on Thursday nights. 1 class a week in Human Resources. Only 4 people in the class at the Polaris campus.
• Found out there is a " 5 Guys" burgers next to the campus, going there before class this week. Supposed to be real good!
• CONNECT Group really made me proud when they stepped up to minister to a family who used to come to church but had dropped away. The family has some medical problems, but because of how our class showed God's love unconditionally, they want to come back to church!!!
• Pray for our CONNECT group class, seems like every week there is a couple coming. Lot's of needs for christian friends. Pray for those that used to come but are too busy right now. I pray that it is temporary and that it does not become a habit to stay away from church.

Pressing On! In Christ alone! (This video helped me through my time dealing with Prostate cancer, but is still very real today)