Friday Feast - An Ode To Forgetting
You know, I was thinking. As the Pudgeman grows older it has become evident that his mind does not retain information like it used to! All week what's her name has been telling me that she had a dentist appointment on Friday morning right around the time that I usually call her. So sure enough (since I am such a creature of habit) I called her and heard this sweet loving voice say "good morning dear, I am at the doctor"! DOH! How do you forget something that someone has told you numerous times throughout the week? I guess it's simply because I am getting older......or is it? I got to thinking about this today and I realized that I have had this tendancy throughout my life. So I thought to myself "I've got to blog about this." So, here are my top five things that I forgot and later realized what I had forgotten:
5. One time while in elementary school I got up, had my breakfast, got dressed and went to school. At some point that morning I had to go to the bathroom and I realized that I had forgotten to take off my pajama bottoms before I put on my pants.
4. One time I was going to the school to play trumpet for the school musical. I arrived at the middle school on performance night and realized (after my mom had left) that I had indeed forgotten my trumpet! Fortunately, I forgot it at the high school and our band director helped to rectify the situation!
3. In my junior year of college I woke up one morning and noticed that I only had 10 minutes to get to my 8:30 class! I sprung out of bed completely skipped the shower stuff, got dressed, grabbed my briefcase and literally ran out the door to go to class. When I arrived the building was locked and at that moment I realized.....IT'S SATURDAY!
2. Back in 1988 I was attending the Specs Howard School Of Broadcast Arts in Southfield. I was on my way to school one evening when all of a sudden the truck that I was driving started spitting and sputtering. I pull it over to the side of the road just as it completely died. I sit there for a few minutes cranking the engine and it simply wouldn't fire! I thought man, what could be wrong with this thing? I then looked at the dash and realized that I had forgotten to put gas in the truck!
1. Just a couple of weeks ago I went to the gym for my morning workout. After my workout was finished I got my bag out of the locker (I always pack it the night before). As I am pulling things out I realized that I had not packed clean underware and socks! I had been sweating really good that morning too! I had no choice in the matter! So I got my shower, sprayed the workout underware with as much cologne as I could stand and hi ho hi ho it was off to work I'd go!
So, what are some of those wonderful things that you have forgotten? Share what you dare. Be blessed beyond belief today.
Is There A Difference
You know, I was thinking. Last night during men's group an interesting scenario was presented. One of the guys was curious about how to deal with a certain person who claims that he knows the Lord but doesn't really act as he does (you know language, actions etc...). Now, this is very over simplified and I am condensing the details to cut to the chase. This group member wanted to know how he should handle this person. Here are the two extremes: If this guy is saved and he keeps asking for forgiveness for his language and actions then everthing is alright isn't it? If this guy isn't saved then nothing that he does as far as asking for forgiveness really matters anyway right?
My answer to this is that it really doesn't matter what this person's current state of salvation is in order to know how to proceed. If this person has accepted Jesus as his savior and has been obedient to him, then you need to set an example and help lead him to a better relationship with the Father so that he can live the kind of life God has for him. If this person is not a Christian the you need to set an example and help lead him to salvation. Either way, I believe the response is the same! But, I don't have all of the answers! Does it really matter where a person is at in their walk for us to "deal" with them about the things of God? What are your thoughts on the topic. Be blessed beyond belief today.
Back By Popular Demand - WILD WEDNESDAY
You know, I was thinking. After weeks of being harrassed about it I have finally decided to bring back Wild Wednesday! Now this is an unannounced test run so pay close attention. To prove to everyone that this is not a good idea I am simply laying out my fleece on this. If I have at least ten different people ask me a question today (7/26/06) by 4 p.m. then I will continue Wild Wednesday's for awhile. Now, I am talking ten different people, not ten different identities of any one person (whobody, newbody, planet of the apes man, etc... will not count).
Here's the heart of Wild Wednesday, you ask me any question that you wish (nothing off limits) and I will give you an honest answer! I will answer any question at all! You may follow up from that point but you still only count as one person no matter how many question or follow ups you have. It is now 7:45 a.m. you have 8 hours and 15 minutes.................GO! Be blessed beyond belief today.
Nuggets Of Knowledge
You know, I was thinking. I have been blessed with over 43 years of existance on this planet (that's right "THIS PLANET") and I have learned a few things over the years. In an attempt to share with the world some of those things that I have found to be important to me, I wish to share the following nuggets of knowlege with all of you:
Don't under any circumstances ever stick you finger in a fuse box no matter how much your brother tells you he'll do it next.
To a man the great outdoors can indeed be a urinal, but there are just sometimes that it shouldn't be!
Before you say "sure I can do that" make sure that you understand the entire project!
God always has a great sense of humor, people do too........ most of the time.
If you know that you'll get in trouble if you get caught, then why are you doing it to begin with?
Chickens can peck you and it really doesn't hurt much, geese on the other hand...!
Money will never buy you happiness but happiness will always make you rich!
God loved me first, anything that I do is secondary!
The less X's in your shirt size the better.
If your parents are standing over you with a belt in their hand and say "this will hurt me more than it does you", they are lying!
To some it's chicken poop, to my dad it was furtilizer!
No matter how much you work out or diet remember that scales always lie.
Good health starts with a good attitude, poor health usually starts with a final exam.
Cakes DO NOT bake much faster when you set the oven to 500!
When traveling and someone else is looking at the atlas and giving you directions, make sure they have it turned to the correct state!
Be blessed beyond belief today.
Monday Mania
You know, I was thinking. God has blessed me beyond belief today! I have a wonderful life that I really wouldn't trade for anything in this world. Oh don't get me wrong, my life is full of challenges on all sides. I battle the forces against me on a daily basis. I have challenges at work, challenges in ministy and I even have family issues that have to be dealt with. But, I love the life that God has blessed me with! Many times you have seen me write or heard me say that "God is in control"! It's more than just a trite saying, I really do my best to live my life with that knowledge. He makes the sun rise and set according to His will and His desire. Life is going to be full of challenges and irritations, but know that beyond a shadow of a doubt God has got control of all of it.
In time all of us have to make a decision whether or not to react to things. I have had a number of these types of challenges throughout this past week. So many times I have bit my tongue and just waited things out. Each time it was the right thing to do. My flesh wanted to cry out "hey you're wrong" or "that's not fair" or even "I know that I'm right". But, God has taught me (mostly the hard way) that reacting quickly to a situation is rarely the correct thing to do. Praise God that He is in control. Over the next couple of weeks I hope to be able to surrender up to God more and more of my life. I wish I could say that I am in complete submission to His will but I know that I am not. I am still very selfish, arrogant and stubborn. I like things to be the way that I like things to be! But as the old children's song goes:
He's still working on me, to make me what I ought to be
It took Him just a week to make the moon and stars
The sun and the earth and Jupiter and Mars
How loving and patient He must be,'Cause He's still working on me
I can't wait till I grow up! Be blessed beyond belief today.
Preparation & Perspiration
You know, I was thinking. This week has been full of a lot of ups and downs for the Pudgeman. Monday was a pretty typical Monday for me but with one twist, there was a big meeting that was scheduled for Friday and I had to do some preparation. On Monday afternoon the company president called me as asked if it would be a good idea to change our pre-meeting with the lawyer and accountant to Wednesday. That way we would have Thursday to do any extra prep work that needed to be done. I agreed that it would be a good idea so I made a great deal of progress getting ahead on my regular work just so that when I came in on Tuesday I could spend the entire day doing meeting prep! Well, since God has a sense of humor, Autoform had no power on Tuesday when I arrived. After about 3 hours of waiting patiently on Edison, I decided to grab a laptop and work on my reports at home. Good plan if you ask me seeing that the power wasn't restored in Ann Arbor until after 4 p.m.
I worked on the reports until around seven in the evening when I got this call from ONOM! He was calling to see if I wanted to go for a walk in the woods (that's Mollette for playing golf)! I thought, I've been going at it pretty hard today, nine holes would be kinda nice at this point. So off we went for one of the most competative rounds he and I have ever played. The game went back and forth and coming up to number nine ONOM was up by one stroke. I had about a three footer to tie the game. I hit the put and the ball did a 270 lip around the cup and ONOM takes the round by one. Great night.
Now, back to the drama. Wednesday's pre-meeting went very well. I found that much of the prep work that I had been doing wasn't going to be needed for this meeting. Not a problem, the data needs to be compiled anyway and it wasn't wasted time but it was a relief that I wasn't going to be under the gun to get it finished. I left this meeting with a couple of simple assignments that I would finish quickly the next morning. Now, since the meeting was in Farmington Hills and it was now 3:30 in the afternoon, the plan was to go to you know where and see what's her name! So I did! Now, one thing that becomes important here is that since I did not work in the office on Tuesday at all, since I still had a lot of work to do, since I woke up at 3 a.m. and couldn't go back to sleep and since I was at my desk at 4:30 a.m. Wednesday morning, I was beginning to get tired! Rachel knew how tired I was and was even more sweet to me that usual (hard to believe that this could even be possible)! We went to dinner (her treat) and had a wonderful evening together. At about 8:30 it was time to leave. I made it home and absolutely crashed in the bed and did not move until the alarm went off.
Well, now we get to Thursday. Once again, there was a lot of work to do. I had a couple of small meetings and a conference call that required my attention. Other than that it was finish my Friday meeting prep and get material orders done. I had a great pace going and was accomplishing much. About mid afternoon I got an email from our lawyer saying that the other group wasn't ready for this big meeting on Friday and are wanting to postpone! I thought to myself "great, I was really ready for this, now all that time is wasted!" Please understand this was my first thought and my mind set changed very quickly.
Here's what I learned from this experience. First of all many times in life we prepare for things that may never happen. We spend money on health, life, auto and home insurance to be ready just in case. We often times think through situations and are ready to give answers to questions that are never asked and although it might seem like wasted time it really isn't! I see similar parallels in our Christian walk. We study, pray, fast and share our lives with one another to be "ready in season and out of season". We are preparing for the next challenge, the next hurdle or the next valley while we are on the mountain top! Sometimes we are prepared to the point of dissapointment if we don't get to use what we have prepared! Through all of this one thing is perfectly clear to me..........................GOD IS IN CONTROL! He causes the sun to rise and set according to His will and His desire. I just have to keep on preparing for life the best way I know how and allow Him to handle the rest even if that means my meeting gets cancelled or postponed. Be blessed beyond belief today.
I Did It My Way!
You know, I was thinking. Hello my name is Doug and I am a recovering karaoke slut (that's right I said slut, trust me it is appropriate). During a certain period of time in my life one of my favorite songs to sings was old Blue Eyes version of the My Way. This song has a lot of meaning to you if you are indeed a worldly person who is looking back at your life and finding satisfaction in knowing that you always did things the way that you thought was best. That in and of itself is just a bad way to judge your own life. I cannot go around and base my decisions for everything I do on what I feel is best. I am an imperfect and very flawed human being. I need a higher standard (or athority) to judge where I am at in my life. I need to look at a standard that is much higher than what I could possible set for myself!
Living a life that is set on the standards and principles of God is the only kind of life that has real value. We as humans will make mistakes and blow it from time to time but the principles of God will remain true and constant as a standard for living. When I am successful at living the way God wants me to live then I need to remain humble. When I fail, then I need to feel that conviction which will bring about changes in my life. I also need to pick myself up (or allow others to help me up) dust myself off and get back into the game! Sitting on the sidelines is not an option in life. We need to live, laugh and love with all of our hearts and know that God is in control.
Today, try something that might be a little different. Change something up! For me, I have this enormous sweet tooth so I am going to not partake of any candy, cookies, cake, pie, ice cream or anything else with added sugar in it just for today! Now, this alone will not help me to follow God more closely all by itself, but when I get that urge today for something sweet, I am going to take time for a quick prayer! I just want to do it because I know that I can succeed! I will then use it to honor the Father.
What a wonderful and glorious God we serve! Make a decision that you are going to dedicate something to Him today! Be blessed beyond belief today.
Rachel Wednesday #10 – The Rest Of The Story
You know, I was thinking. We will now pick up our ongoing saga of Doug and Rachel on April 12, 2006 @ about 10 p.m. Rachel had just called me as I was ready to go to bed and she was very excited! She began by saying something like “I just got home and read my emails and had to call you right away.” I asked her what was up and she proceeded with “I think that you will find this to be good news; that other match that I was supposed to go and see next week just dumped me for the second time by email!” I asked her if she was all right and she assured me that she was. Now, please understand that sometimes I can be a little thick-headed and slow. It hadn’t quite hit me yet as to what she was actually trying to tell me. Then it dawned on me that if this other match was now out of the picture it would appear that there was nothing standing between me and a relationship with Rachel. So I asked, "Does this mean that you want to see what will happen between you and me?" She said, “Well, yes!” but I think she actually meant “Well, duh!” For one of the few times in my life I couldn’t think of anything to say! I was for a few seconds absolutely speechless! She went on talking about how this was an answer to her prayers. You see, she had been really struggling with what to do so she had been praying that God would make it so she didn’t have to hurt either one of us (the other match or myself) and now she had received her answer. That phone conversation went on for about another half hour or so and I was as excited about the possibilities as she was! Just as a side note here, I didn’t get much sleep that night either! We couldn’t wait to see each other again but because of our schedules we would have to wait until Saturday. From this point forward Rachel and I have been together! Things have continued to progress nicely in our relationship and with God holding the controls we are both enjoying the ride.
At this point in time I want to let you know why our relationship is so, shall we say, unique and special. Let’s look as some of the highlights as I see them:
1. We met on the internet! Neither Rachel nor I had ever done anything like this before and odds of the two of us finding one another any other way were astronomical to say the least (not to mention how quickly we were matched up). But we both signed up on eharmony just a few days apart. We both were looking for a Christian to date. We both had marriages that had failed… This will blow your mind if you think about it too long.
2. Both of us had been praying for answers to our individual situations in life. Each of us wanted a clear answer from the Father concerning any relationship that we would enter into.
3. I hardly had any dating experiences since my divorce and Rachel had none, but we both had a pretty clear idea as to what we were looking for in a potential mate. We both had priority lists and neither one of us wanted to compromise on what was “really important.”
4. We haven’t stopped praying about our relationship! That has been one thing that the two of us seem to do well. We have both been keeping God at the center of things and even though no relationship is perfect, it isn’t hard to see that ours is very good! God will always let us know what to do next.
I want to encourage everyone who reads this to understand that Rachel and I are not together by accident. We had both made decisions based on what we felt God wanted us to do. We then followed a plan of action that I truly believe was blessed by the Father. The greatest thing about this is that anyone can get the answers that they are seeking to anything that is happening in their lives. This is about a relationship, but it can work just as easily for answers to any other of life’s situations. Remember, ALWAYS keep God at the center of every situation and/or circumstance in your life. Be blessed beyond belief today.
Friday Feast - An Ode To Rising Gas Prices
You know, I was thinking. After spending over $30 for about 10 gallons of gas yesterday I decided that I wanted to dedicate a blog specifically to those men and women who have decided to glean every cent they can from the American consumer. So here's to you big oil, my thanks to you for all that you have done for me over the past couple of years. I did some deep in-depth analysis and will share with you what I have learned from PNN (the Pudge News Network). Here are the top five reasons that gas prices have gone up so dramatically lately.
#5 - intense rains on the east coast last week - That's right too much water in the streets causes oil prices to sky rocket. Some big wig oil president must have gotten his $1000 pair of shoes wet and decided that he needed another pair, so up go the price on Go Juice!
#4 - Jay Mollette no longer commutes to work - Hard to believe that those few miles that he doesn't drive every day could have such a dramatic impact on the cost of gas but my sources have learned that big oil executives heard about this huge consumption reduction and decided that it was worth about $.15/gallon.
#3 - Cora Fraley has dental work done - Yep, once again those slippery big oil reporters knew that this was going to happen and upped the prices another $.05/gallon. Taking advantage of a child’s pain is just right up there alley!
#2 - It's July and the Independence Day Classic is scheduled - They had to get their greedy hands into one of my golf outings or it just wouldn't be a complete domination of the American economy!
#1 - Tom Hawkins didn't preach this past Sunday - The mass exodus from Tecumseh when the word got out caused traffic jams 10 miles long. People were lined up for blocks just to fill up to head somewhere else for church. It has been scientifically proven that the Pastors sermons' have kept gas prices down for months! We must take the necessary steps to insure that this never happens again.
Alright, I am finished venting now. I guess I am tired of corporate America taking advantage of the average consumer and like most of you I simply cannot afford for this to continue. But remember that no matter what the price of gas is that God is still in control and His mercies endure forever. Be blessed beyond belief today.
Patriotism?
You know, I was thinking. Over the past several days I have heard a lot of great talk about this country and how blessed we are to live here! I am so very thankful that I live in the U.S.A. I still shed a tear when I hear the National Anthem. I still well up with pride when I see old glory waving in the breeze. I still pray every day for the leaders of our land and the soldiers in the battlefield. But I can't help but wonder are we truly blessed to be living in this land? Now, please hear me out on this point, I am not suggesting that I am an unhappy American but I think there are some inconsistancies in the American way and the Christian way.
We live in a land where self indulgence and aquiring wealth are the two highest priorities, Jesus' two highest priorities are love and service. American's want honor and strength, Jesus was meek and humble. You see God's priorities are so different from "American priorities" that it is easy for Christians to get caught up in the wave of patriotism and forget that we ought to be Christians first and Americans second.
Let's all take a lesson from the Romans. The Roman empire was perhaps the strongest and most influencial in all of history. The short story is that the empire crumbled from within due to immoratlity and self indugence. It was easy pickins for conquering! I don't want this to happen to America! From now on continue to celebrate July 4th as our nations independence day but let's look at Easter as the REAL day to celebrate our freedoms. Be blessed beyond belief today.
Rachel Wednesday - *SPECIAL EDITION*
You know, I was thinking. The lovely school teacher from north of here is on a missionary trip to Guatemala right now. So in honor of this I wanted to hold off the 10th and final segment of the Rachel/Doug story and allow all of you to experience some of what Rachel is experiencing. If you click on to this
link and you will find the Faith Baptist Church home page. You can then click on the "Guatemala Mission MicroSite". You can read some of the pre-trip stories as well as view pictures from Guatemala and read journal entries.
All of you are probably aware of how proud I am of Rachel and what she is doing right now. I would continue to ask for your prayers on her behalf. Be blessed beyond belief today.
