Big Decision ahead for Ebenezer Baptist Church

My church has a big decision ahead of us.

Last Sunday Night, I was honored to be a part of the first official presentation of our New Facilities Development Team. The team shared their findings over the last year and a half. They have worked hard to deliver the best possible solution for our church moving forward.

Here are some things I walked away with:
1. This team has worked hard. (Good thing)
2. The price tag is high. The longer we wait, the higher it will get due to inflation, growth in West Florence, etc. (Bad thing)
3. A high number of our ministries are experiencing the "lack of space" issue. Need examples? Children's Church, Youth Ministry, 1st and 2nd grade classes on Sunday, Wednesday, etc. We will be adding space for them as well. (Good and Bad)
4. If we started NOW with fund-raising, construction will not be complete until August 2010. (Bad thing)
5. We need relief now.... what will we do until then?

Do not miss the opportunity to see this presentation. You will want to be a part of this historical moment in our church.

Quick Doctor Update

Hopefully soon I'll have time to write about the entire episode. Regardless, if you're one of the people praying for me or thinking about my recent CT scan, lightheadedness and dizziness, then I want you to know that I have been given a clean bill of health.
All 4 blood tests have come back normal.
The CT Scan says I indeed have a brain and it functions properly (remember, properly is a relative term!)

Basically, this signals the doctor to think that my life is just too busy. She says I am stressed. She says I should eat better, work out, relax a litte.

I reminded her that working out and trying to be healthy is what sent me to her in the first place.

Regardless, thanks for the prayers. All is well medically. Somehow, I have to slow down.

The ground's already shaking....

Tonight, Tripp and I are headed to the "Monster Truck WinterNationals".

Location: Florence Civic Center

We'll get to see BIGFOOT, CLYDESDALE, SUDDEN IMPACT, T MAXX, GET R DONE, and HAVOC Monster Trucks.

I'm not sure there's enough room in the arena for these guys to "RACE side by side". We'll see.

I'm looking forward to seeing my three year old get excited about the 3 story tall fire breathing, car eating, robotic dinosaur!

I'll let you know how it goes! Last weekend was the veggietales movie. This weekend ... Monster Trucks. Maybe we'll try sky-diving next weekend.

ps. I think this is a little of the "south" coming out in me.

Test from my phone

Do Computers mess with you?

Do computers conspire against you to make your life miserable? Think your day was bad? Watch this.

The video is a little slow to start but it ramps up fast. I've seen a couple of these videos before but the compilation is worth a laugh!


Thanks to Jayson for posting.

Iron Sharpens Iron

“As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” It’s my FAVORITE verse in the Bible, and it points to a basic truth: one of our most important jobs as PEOPLE is to help each other grow.

Some of the ways I try to do this is by treating people kindly, trying to set an example, attempting to stay positive, by praying for others, and by encouraging people who could use an uplifting word—and sometimes challenging them when they are whining. This way of life is important to me.

Mentoring is a more formalized way that believers can help each other. A mentor is a tutor, somewhere between a friend and a teacher. A mentor offers the wisdom of his or her experience to another, helping them to mature.

Anyone can be a mentor to someone else but they must first prove worthy to be a mentor. I think about my mentors in life and I recognize a few things about them.

They are strongly based in Christ.
They have lots of experience with life’s ups and downs,
They have set the example for me and others.
They are worthy. They've seen adversity and maintained composure. (When I say adversity, I mean in their finances, marriage, career, etc).


It boils down to this:
I'm not going to listen to someone telling me how to handle my marriage when there's isn't going so well.

I'm not going to listen to someone teach me about finances when they can't manage their own.

I'm not going to listen to someone's advice on being a great employee when they call in sick to get an extra day at the beach with their family.

So, my question to you. Are you mentor-worthy? Are you setting the example? What do your kids think?

Lead Paint

Ok... so I'm no Paint Expert but if all these items are being recalled due to Lead Paint exposure, why don't we quit making Lead Paint.....

**shrug**

**walk away from the computer**


Thank you for letting me vent.

Productivity Interruptions

For quite some time now, I've been really worried about productivity tools that have taken over my (and your) life. Specifically, I am speaking about email, text messaging and instant messaging.

Now don't get me wrong, I believe in all three. However, we've all forgotten about the phone and face-to-face communication. It may take several hours of email exchanges to resolve an issue that would have taken 5-7 minutes in a verbal exchange of ideas.

I see people instant messaging each other that literally sit side by side. Stand up and TALK! (unless of course, you're talking about your boss.)

I actually got a response to an email the other day, we use Exchange, that came into my inbox 1 minute before I actually sent it. Truth is there's a server somewhere in between us with a time issue. Regardless, that individual was checking email at an interval that was wasting time.

Far too many people attempt to respond to each email in real time. I think this seriously damages productivity. After all, do you stand by the mailbox at your house and look in it every minute to see if new mail has arrived?

For quite some time, I've considered banning email from my life for 2 days a week.

My question to you: Do you keep email open all the time? How often do you check it?

You will have to pay this bill.

Don't stop reading this until the bottom. It does affect you.

Some recent headline news states that Bank of America will buy Countrywide Mortgage. So what, you ask?

All Financial Matters reports that Countrywide’s CEO will be paid $110M as a result of the sale. Why? Here’s another CEO being rewarded for destroying his shareholders’ company.

Guess what? You’re going to pay him.

That’s right. You.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a shareholder in either company. If you are a taxpayer in the U.S., you get to foot the bill. How’s that, you ask? Taxes.

See, companies can carry forward losses for tax purposes. It’s similar to how people are told to sell losing stocks and mutual funds to lock in the capital loss. It’s part of what makes Countrywide attractive to Bank of America. BoA now gets to reduce its tax bill by hundreds of millions of dollars.

Congratulations. You get to pay the bill for Bank of America’s purchase of Countrywide.


Most of this post taken from here.

Childhood Memory

Today, I was listening to my iPod and forgot that I had put a song on there. Anyone remember the song Convoy?

What a classic. If you haven't heard it, find it somewhere and listen to it. It's a little boy's dream song!

Strength Finders.

Recently I read an article about 10 things that zap your energy.... They were (with my comments inline).

1. Lack of Sleep. - 8 hours? You want me to sleep how much? 5-6 hours a night, that's it for me.
2. Sugar. - I'm avoiding it right now. I generally do....except for Sweet Tea... mmmm
3. Caffeine. - Are you kidding? Diet Mountain Dew, baby!
4. Lack of Exercise. - Just joined the gym. All is going well.
5. Not Enough Oxygen. - um, wonder if the neighbors will ever stop burning leaves? just kidding... I think I get plenty of Oxygen.
6. Processed Foods. Um...ok. We are doing better but somehow my children think eating at home is a sin.
7. Dehydration. I drink plenty of fluids. I'm probably not drinking water enough.
8. Stress. Life is stressful. Period. I know of no way to eliminate this. I wish for a little quiet time.
9. Chronic Pain. - There's always something aching! My wife is really tired of hearing me complain.

Then finally....

10. Toxic People. People who are negative rob a lot of my energy. I'm such a positive person. There are a few actions I've taken. I spend as little time as possible with negative people. I'm learning slowly not to fight with them. Someone once told me not to expect any better from them. So today, I try to practice compassion for them. I'm trying the whole "walk a mile in their shoes" idea. Maybe their negativity is a reflection of pain in their life. I am always kind and make it a point to spend time with positive people every day.


bottom line: I am blessed!

protecting my family....living consciously

A few months ago I read a blog post that asked me if I was living consciously. My immediate reaction is a lot like my reaction to most things that challenge me: Sure! I live consciously. But then I read on. I realized I was just floating through life (and right now, a good one...nothing bad to report.)

But, I sat down to start reconciling my bank balance and realized...

* I was paying too much for Health Insurance.
* I was paying too much for Car Insurance.
* I was paying too much for Life Insurance.

So....
* I've changed Health insurance providers. It should save me $300 a month!

* I'm changing Term-Life Insurance providers. It should save only about $100 a year.

*I've changed Automobile Insurance. I was with the same automobile insurance company for 20 years! When I told them I wanted a more competitive rate, he asked me to shop around. I did, found apples to apples, but he wouldn't budge. So... I left. ( this one REALLY made me mad!)

* I also increased my deductible on my home insurance. (When's the last time you filed a claim?) - This saved me $200 a year.

So.. by living consciously, just in the area of "insurance" alone, I've put close to $4000 per year back in my pocket. I sure hope my math works out.