make entries about what happens in my life so people who read my ramblings don't get bored when I have nothing to say about my goals.

So, I went to Slovenia, had an INCREDIBLE time there. And then made it back to the states, and for one week now, I’ve been living in Wisconsin.

Still getting settled in, and will be for a while, because the house I’m going to be living in is still having major work done so I’m pretty much living in a camper for now and most of my stuff is still in my car lol.

I’m still looking for a job, but not too worried about it.

Later this week, I’ll be volunteering at Lifest! I’m pretty stoked about that. I’d heard about it in past years, and probably even heard where it was located, but a year ago, the words “Oshkosh, Wisconsin” wouldn’t have meant anything to me. But as it turns out, that is very close to where I’m staying, and it’s cool that I got here just over a week before the festival. And when I signed up, I think there were only a few slots left, so it was cool that I found out about it when I did.

Anyway, I’m excited.

Still not sure how often I’ll have internet access, and as such, not sure how often I’ll be on here(plus most of my internet time has been on careerbuilder or the job section on craigstlist, etc). But figured since I’d posted the last couple of updates on here it would be good to post this one.

I’ll be completely moved out of my apartment within the hour. I’ve already quit my job, and tomorrow is my last day with my church here. So it’s definitely starting to sink in that all of the stuff I mentioned in my last post are actually happening, and I’m extremely excited about all of it.

I doubt I’ll post again before my trip.

Anyway, I’m gonna finish loading stuff in the truck and then vacuum.

and it will probably be a while before I’m back consistently again, but I figured I should at least post a brief update.

The last few months have been really long, but a lot has happened too.

Last week, I went on a trip to Chicago for my girlfriend’s graduation.

We recently found out that she got a job she’d really been wanting in Wisconsin.

We’ll both be moving there at the end of June.

But first, we’re going to Slovenia(a small country in Europe bordering Italy and Austria) to visit her family. She’s actually already there now, I’ll be there for 3 weeks starting early June.

All of that also means that I’ll be quitting my job, moving out of my apartment, and leaving my church and friends here.

Tuesday is my last day at work, so with Memorial Day off, I only have 3 more days to work… that’s kinda crazy.

I only have two more Sundays at my church… have been working on training a guy to fill in for me as the sound man.

I have to be out of my apartment by the 31st(though I guess I’ll probably be shooting for the 30th, since the 31st is a Sunday and I won’t want to worry about it then.

Sometime between now and then, I’ll be moving my stuff out of my apartment and into my parents’ garage for storage until I can move it up to Wisconsin.

Then on the 2nd of June, I’ll be flying out of the country!

I don’t have a job lined up in Wisconsin yet, but I do have a temporary place to stay(they actually told me I could stay there as long as I want, but would prefer to find my own place soon).

I’m almost certain I’ve left something out, but that should give you an idea of what’s been going on lately in my life. Pretty crazy and exciting stuff :)

Just over a week ago, the pastor of the church I grew up in(on weeks that my dad wasn’t preaching in a different church) passed away. This man had a rough past but dedicated the last nearly 30 years of his life to God. He was a great pastor, close family friend, and dedicated servant of God.

Even though I don’t remember much of my childhood, his passing hit me hard… maybe it makes it worse because I know that not only will I not be able to spend time with him in the future(at least here on earth), I don’t have those memories of the times we did spend together. At the same time though, I know he is happy now, he is no longer suffering from pain and illness, and he is gone on to be with the One he devoted his later years on earth to.

I wasn’t able to go to his funeral, but I wanted to do something in honor of the memories I do have with him. I couldn’t think of anything better than to post this email my dad sent out to our family and friends.

Before that though, I’d like to ask people to pray for his family.

Last Friday (2/8/08) My best friend in this world passed away. He was the pastor of my family and a student of mine at one time. They had to have his funeral in a large white church in Idabel (First Baptist) because there was no Indian church big enough to hold those who came. The church filled up that some had to stand along the walls.

Johnny Shomo was a man after God’s own heart. He never gave up on anyone (as the crowd at his funeral was evidence of). When I would introduce him as my pastor, he would introduce me as his teacher. However, he grew in the LORD well beyond anything I taught him. He was a testimony to the power of God. He grew up in an impoverished home and an alcoholic father that he had to hide from at times. He himself became an alcoholic and prone to violence. In fact, was in a knife fight and died but had a testimony of pleading with God of let him return because he did not want to go to hell. God graciously allowed that because even though he had been wheeled into the hospital morgue? he was heard to move by a nurse who got on top of him and revived him with CPR. While he did not keep his word at that time, in the mid 1980’s he was wonderously saved by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I met him in 1991 when I held a Bible study at his sister’s house and taught on battling temptation. Years later he told me that was just what he needed because he was struggling with temptation and was near giving up. From then on, he grew mightily in the Lord and would have given you the shirt off of his own back. He was a man that a pastor who was struggling could go to and find a listening ear and godly advice. To me he was that friend that was like iron sharpening iron of which we had much ministry together. Towards the end his body was eventually taken by cancer in his bones, brain, and lungs. Even in much pain he continued to minister to those who came to visit him in his sick bed. He was faithful to the end. His passing has affected me deeply. This is my tribute to him and the power of God and a way to deal with my own grief.

Even with as little as I’ve been on here lately(actually I was online a decent amount today since I didn’t go to work), I couldn’t let something this big happen without making a post on here.

Today, I put in my two weeks notice(actually it’s like 2 1/2) for my job at WalMart. February 22nd is my last day, and after that I will be back to having just one fulltime job(plus of course the business).

It was kind of sad letting the people I work with know(and I still haven’t told most of them, but I figure a big chunk of that will be done for me by the time I get there tomorrow evening). I was just getting stretched two thin between the two jobs and also this way I’ll have Sundays off regularly again… can’t wait for that.

Alright so a few weeks ago I applied for a job at a call center to do tech support. I got the job and was planning to work fulltime there and switch to part time at my job in the Walmart photo-lab. The store manager(who I still believe has absolutely no idea who I am lol) didn’t like the idea of me switching my hours of availability. So, after I got past the weeks of scheduling they already had up for me, I was going to be done working there(in the mean time, I was working at the other place and just coming in late to that job). Today was to be my last day there… or so I thought. When I showed up today, I found out that one of my co-workers wanted me to stay bad enough that she went and talked to the store manager about it(I was indifferent enough about it that I didn’t talk to him. If he didn’t want to keep me, it’s his loss). So anyway, he changed his mind and now it seems I still have 2 jobs. That’s still kind of sinking in after getting used tot he idea of leaving that job. It’ll be nice to be able to save more money now, which was the reason I was wanting two jobs in the first place. It’s also nice to know how much everyone seemed to care when they thought I was going to have to leave.

Now I guess I’ll go back to not regularly having weekends off, but since I’m not on the schedule for the next 2-3 weeks, I may take advantage of that ;)

I don’t normally pass on forwards… in fact, I don’t even read them most of the time, but I liked this one and figured I’d share it:

Sandra felt as low as the heels of her
shoes when she pulled open the florist
shop door, against a November gust
of wind. Her life had been as sweet as
a spring breeze and then, in the fourth
month of her second pregnancy, a
“minor” automobile accident stole her
joy. This was Thanksgiving week and
the time she should have delivered
their infant son. She grieved over their
loss.

Troubles had multiplied.

Her husband’s company “threatened”
to transfer his job to a new location.
Her sister had ca ll ed to say that she
could not come for her long awaited
holiday visit. What’s worse, Sandra’s
friend suggested that Sandra’s grief
was a God-given path to maturity that
would a ll ow her to empathize with
others who suffer. “She has no idea
what I’m feeling,” thought Sandra with
a shudder. ” Thanksgiving? Thankful
for what?” she wondered. “For a
careless driver whose truck was hardly
scratched when he rear-ended her?
For an airbag that saved her life, but
took her child’s?”

“Good afternoon, can I help you?”

Sandra was startled by the approach
of the shop clerk. “I . . . I need an
arrangement,” stammered Sandra.

“For Thanksgiving? I’m convinced that
flowers tell stories,” she continued.
“Are you looking for something that
conveys ‘gratitude’ this Thanksgiving?”

“Not exactly!” Sandra blurted out. “In
the last five months, everything that
could go wrong has gone wrong.”

Sandra regretted her outburst, and
was surprised when the clerk said, “I
have the perfect arrangement for you.”

Then the be ll on the door rang, and
the clerk greeted the new customer,

“Hi, Barbara, let me get your order.”
She excused herself and walked back
to a sma ll workroom, then quickly
reappeared, carrying an arrangement
of greenery, bows, and what appeared
to be long-stemmed thorny roses.
Except the ends of the rose stems
were neatly snipped: there were no
flowers.

“Do you want these in a box?” asked
the clerk. Sandra watched – was this a
joke? Who would want rose stems
with no flowers! She waited for
laughter, but neither woman laughed.

“Yes, please,” Barbara replied with an
appreciative smile. “You’d think after
three years of getting the special, I
wouldn’t be so moved by its
significance, but I can feel it right here,
all over again,” she said, as she gently
tapped her chest.

Sandra stammered, “Ah, that lad y just
left with . . . uh . . . she left with no
flowers!”

” That’s right,” said the clerk. “I cut off
the flowers. That’s the ‘Special’. I call it
the Thanksgiving Thorns Bouquet.
Barbara came into the shop three
years ago, feeling much as you do
today,” explained the clerk. “She
thought she had very little to be
thankful for. She had just lost her
father to cancer; the family business
was failing; her son had gotten into
drugs; and she was facing major
surgery. That same year I had lost my
husband,” continued the clerk. “For
the first time in my life, I had to spend
the holidays alone. I had no children,
no husband, no family nearby, and too
much debt to allow any travel.”

“So what did you do?” asked Sandra.

“I learned to be thankful for thorns,”
answered the clerk quietly. “I’ve
always thanked God for the good
things in my life and I never
questioned Him why those good things
happened to me, but when the bad
stuff hit, I cried out, ‘Why? Why me?!’
It took time for me to learn that the
dark times are important to our faith! I
have always enjoyed the ‘flowers’ of
my life, but it took the thorns to show
me the beauty of God’s comfort! You
know, the Bible says that God
comforts us when we’re afflicted, and
from His consolation we learn to
comfort others.”

Sandra sucked in her breath, as she
thought about what her friend had tried
to te ll her. “I guess the truth is I don’t
want comfort. I’ve lost a baby and I’m
angry with God.”

Just then someone else walked in the
shop.

“Hey, Phil!” the clerk greeted the
balding, rotund man.

“My wife sent me in to get our usual
Thanksgiving arrangement . . . twelve
thorny, long-stemmed stems!” laughed
Phil as the clerk handed him a tissue
wrapped arrangement from the
refrigerator.

” Those are for your wife?” asked
Sandra incredulously. “Do you mind
te ll ing me why she wants a bouquet
that looks like that?”

“Four years ago, my wife and I nearly
divorced,” Phil replied. “After forty
years, we were in a real mess, but with
the Lord’s grace and guidance, we
trudged through problem after
problem, the Lord rescued our
marriage. Jenny here (the clerk) told
me she kept a vase of rose stems to
remind her of what she had learned
from “thorny” times. T hat was good
enough for me. I took home some of
those stems. My wife and I decided to
label each one for a specific “problem”
and give thanks for what that problem
taught us.”

As Phil paid the clerk, he said to
Sandra, “I highly recommend the
Special!”

“I don’t know if I can be thankful for the
thorns in my life” Sandra said to the
clerk. “It’s a ll too . . . fresh.”

“We ll ,” the clerk replied carefully, “my
experience has shown me that the
thorns make the roses more precious.
We treasure God’s providential care
more during trouble than at any other
time. Remember that it was a crown of
thorns that Jesus wore so we might
know His love. Don’t resent the
thorns.”

Tears ro ll ed down Sandra’s cheeks.
For the first time since the accident,
she loosened her grip on her
resentment.

“I’ ll take those twelve long-stemmed
thorns, please,” she managed to
choke out.

“I hoped you would,” said the clerk
gently. “I’ ll have them ready in a
minute.”

” Thank you. What do I owe you?”

“Nothing. Nothing but a promise to
a ll ow God to heal your heart. T he first
year’s arrangement is always on me.”

T he clerk smiled and handed a card to
Sandra. “I’ ll attach this card to your
arrangement, but maybe you would
like to read it first.”

It read:

“My God, I have never thanked You
for my thorns. I have thanked You a
thousand times for my roses, but
never once for my thorns. Teach me
the glory of the cross I bear; teach me
the value of my thorns. Show me that I
have climbed closer to You along the
path of pain. Show me that, through
my tears, the colors of Your rainbow
look much more brilliant.”

Praise Him for the roses; thank Him
for the thorns.

I’d just like to say welcome to my most recent subscriber. Hope you find some enjoyment in reading my comments and entries ;)

Any chance you’d like to take this opportunity to let the world(or more specifically, me) know who you are?

The past couple of days 2-3 people have been showering with cheers. Cheers have been coming more and faster than I’ve ever had them. Is it coincidence, or are people banding together to dump all their cheers on me one person at a time?

An interesting side effect is that I have a ton of cheers to give away. More than I know what to do with. I generally don’t give out a whole lot of cheers, just one or two here or there to entries/goals that seem deserving for one reason or another. I’m kind of at a loss of what to do with them lol. I feel weird giving out cheers just because I have them, but I also don’t want to let them all go to waste(and don’t have the time right now to spend reading through enough entries to find that many worthy of a cheer).

For a while, I seemed to be stuck with the same number. I’d gain one and drop one at close to the same time. I’ve gained a couple without any losses knocks on wood in the past couple days though.

Anyway, I guess I just wanted to drop a quick note both to thank those of you that have been faithful and to welcome the newcomers. I hope you’ll stick around. Maybe I’ll even say something interesting once in a while. Maybe.