Too Blessed To Be Stressed?
You know, I was thinking. I have seen the statement "too blessed to be stressed" on many church signs lately and it made me stop and think. If I truly believe that God is in control and that I am in His will then will I experience stress? I think that this is a good way to look at life in general but I do not believe that believers don't experience stress. More than that, I don't believe that it is a transgression for a believer to experience stress.
You see, in the garden just before He was arrested the scriptures say that Jesus' sweat was mixed with blood. Why is that? Well, here's the Pudgeman version of this story. I believe that Jesus was under a tremendous amount of stress because of what lay ahead of Him. You know that whole carrying the sin of the world on your shoulders and being forsaken by God thing even if it was just for a moment. Jesus experienced stress! It was a crucial time not just for Him but for all of God's children on earth. But remember that Jesus also prayed "Father not my will but your's be done."
The question that we should ask is not whether or it is a sin to experience stress but more than that, what are we stressing about. Now, there is a difference in having stress and worrying about something. Worry is a whole different topic that can be addressed at another time. Worry will cause stress, even a tremendous amount of stress but I am not talking about that. I am talking about the stress that we have from just daily life. Deadlines, demanding schedules and keeping on top of lifes little challenges are just a few things that cause me stress.
So what's the answer? Once again here is the Pudgeman interpretation. Instead of saying that I'm "too blessed to be stressed" I think it is more in line with God's word to say I'm "too blessed to keep my stress"! You see, we cannot control what we feel we can only control what we do with our feelings. When I recognize that I am feeling stress I personally need to identify the stressers that are there, make a plan to handle the things that are causing me stress and then turn that all over to God for His intervention. If I cannot do anything about those stressers then I have got to learn to let it go! I know, that is easier said then done but it is possible if we really give control over to God.
What is causing you stress today? What can you do about it? What plan do you need to implement in order to handle your stress? While in Gambler's Anonymous I leaned the serenity prayer that goes like this: "God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, to change the things that I can and the wisdom to know the difference." Be blessed beyond belief today.
Showing Appreciation
You know, I was thinking. The last couple of months has been nothing but a blurr! The lovely Mrs. M and I are running at a pace that I haven't ever experienced before. Between the both of us having full time careers, two sons at home, one daughter in Traverse City, a bed ridden mother-in-law and a house that we are departely trying to finish, and we are having a hard time making enough time for each other. Yesterday we were both finishing up work Rachel had left Daniel at school and needed to go back and finish up some work. We were on the phone with each other, Rachel sounded a little hyper on the other end and was talking a mile a minute! I was trying to sort out what was going on and what project(s) that needed my attention once I got home. I must have sounded angry because she kicked it in to different gear and became a little defensive. She finally asked what I was upset about and I simply said "I'm not upset, I'm just trying to figure out what you want because you sound so hyper." At that point she began to tell me about her afternoon that absolutely frustrated her (now I didn't have a great day either so you can see why some of this happened) and she was trying to clear her head and get down to business. So we made a decision on the top three or four tasks that needed to be handled last night and wrapped up our conversation. But something kept bugging me and I couldn't put my finger on it! I WAS beginning to get upset and I didn't know why but I did know that I wasn't upset about the conversation we had or about the plan for the evening. Not knowing what else to do I began to just make the preparations for what I needed to do, I continued to drive home and I also began to pray. When I got home I still wasn't quite right! I was still feeling this thing going on in my head but I decided that one thing I was not going to do is take it out on Rachel or the boys. I got to work with ripping up some old carpeting and hadn't done much when Rachel got home. She came up and gave me a hug and a kiss and said "you're amazing"! Funny, but from that point on my evening got better! We accomplished most of what we set out to do and just about fell out on the couch from exhaustion when it was all over!
Here's the problem. I was feeling under appreciated! Nothing anybody has done made me feel this way but it was my own selfish pride taking over. Rachel does a fantastic job of letting me know how much I am loved and appreciated but sometimes I just get overwhelmed. When she took 30 seconds to do what she did it made all of the difference in the world to me. It also reminded me that I need to be the same way with her, the boys and everyone else who is important to me in my life. Take the time today to tell someone "thank you" or "I appreciate you". You never know what that might mean to them. Be blessed beyond belief today.
What Day Is Today? Oh, It's Wild Wednesday
You know, I was thinking. It's been quite a while since I've allowed things to run a muck on this blog so why not do it today. For those of you who may be new to this concept, Wild Wednesday is a day that you can ask me anything about the topic that I have chosen. The responses that you get may or may not be absolute truth but they are indeed the unadulterated opinion of the one and only Pudgeman! You may not get a "correct" answer but you will get MY answer which if it is not accurate it will indeed entertain you. Today's topic is one that is near and dear to my heart and that is baseball! You may ask me anything you would like to ask about the great American past time and you will be answered eventually because hey, even the Pudgeman has to work for a living. Be blessed beyond belief today.
Welcome To IKEA
You know, I was thinking. This past weekend was a pretty good one for the Pudgeman and Mrs. Pudgeman. We spent a lot of time working on the house which brought a great deal of satisfaction. It is nice to actually see some progress being made and I think that the two of us were at least psychologically energized and recharged by what was accomplished.
The only black mark on the weekend was a stop in Canton at IKEA! We went there because I had received word that they carried stainless steel countertops. Now, I don't know if you fully understand the way that the Pudgeman shops or not but in a nutshell it is as simple as 1,2,3. 1. Know exactly what you want to either buy or look at before you leave the house. 2. Enter the store with purpose and intent to buy or look at exactly what you want. 3. Leave said store with the merchandise or information that you went there to get just as quickly as is humanly possible without causing serious injury to yourself or others along the way. This tried and true method does not work at IKEA! I don't know how many of you have ever entered one of these stores but there should be a sign on the outside saying "WELCOME TO HELL!" You have to go into the store through one specific door. To get to the stuff for kitchens you must go up the escalator through a maze of other crap (sorry Vera) that you have absolutely no interest in looking at in order to get to the stuff you do want to look at! I felt like a mouse looking for cheese in a maze. Once you find the kitchen area, you must then find an actually human that works in that department in order to ask for the information that you want to receive. After finding out that they do NOT carry what you want you then must complete the maze to find the stairs that go down to the main floor again. Once you get to the bottom of the steps you are less than 50 feet away from where you came in but there are two problems. Problem one is that this is only the entrance and not the exit and problem two is that there is a wall between you and the promised land at this point. The only way to get to the exit is to go through the first floor labrinth looking at more crap (sorry again Vera) that you have absolutely no interest in again before you get to the exit.
On top of all of this it seemed to me like everyone in this store had a unified purpose and intent to slow me down. I wanted out and no matter what I did there were people blocking the path that you have to take in order to get to the chesse! I got turned around more than once, I felt lost and confused, and I nearly forgot to keep tabs on my lovely wife to make sure she was still with me (she's good at keeping up)! The last time I felt this way was when Tom and I were stuck in Chicago traffic and it took us about three hours to get out! Man I was getting angry!
IKEA has seen me for both the first and last time! I have vowed to never darken their doorway again. If you love IKEA, then have at it! If you have never been there then be ready to become a science project! Above all things be blessed beyond belief today.
I Feel Good Today
You know, I was thinking. What a crazy week this has been. On Sunday we went down to NewSong for services and then out to mom and sis's house for Easter. I began to feel lousy that afternoon and knew that I was coming down with something. I stayed home from work on Monday and Tuesday, put in a full day Wednesday and went home at noon yesterday. I woke up this morning and actually felt good. I slept for a full night for the first time in a week and I know that made a big difference. We have been so busy lately because of my surgery and the play, right now we are kicking it into full gear with getting the house finished. I have been doing everything that I can do to make it happen but I have limited skills in the construction area. Chris Nevins came out on Monday to look over the job and he is going to give us a price for some tile work and to re-do our family room. Why are we putting ourselves through all of this you might ask? Well, we want to move down to Lenawee County and be closer to NewSong. Some people may not understand why a family would change their lives around because of a church that they want to be a part of but that is the major attraction for us. We also want to be closer to family. God brought Rachel and I together to do something for Him, not to just sit on the sidelines. We both want to be in His will but until we finish the house we cannot put it on the market and until we put this house on the market we cannot sell it and we cannot buy a new home in Lenewee County until we sell the one that we are in right now. So, that's why life is busy for us, and with me being sick all week it didn't help things. Just keep all of this stuff held up in prayer for us. No matter what I do in my life I wish to be in God's will. I believe with all my heart that this is the way to do it. We are excited and overwhelmed at the same time, but at least I am feeling good today. Be blessed beyond belief today.
I Should Have Listened
You know, I was thinking. When we left the MHG story from Tuesday night I was on my way home from the Pontiac Home Depot in their rental truck with my MHG already assembled in the back. I was pretty happy at this time and just glad that I was bringing my new grillfreind (nice one Raivynn) home to meet my wife. Now, I knew that it was not going to be an easy task to get this grill off of the truck so I had a plan. I would drive into the backyard down this hill we have in order to make the distance between the back of the truck and the ground only about two feet. Now, this did work quite well to spite my wife's warning of "I don't think that's a good idea, the ground back there is pretty soft in the spring." This isn't an exact quote but is the heart of her thought. After the grill was off of the back of the truck I had to basically walk it up the hill one side at a time until I got to the driveway. Once there it was an easy roll to the back patio. I then got into the truck to back it up the hill.....................it didn't move! So, I pulled forward just a little bit to get a running start. I pulled forward only about 10 feet, put it in reverse..................it didn't move! I put it in drive to try and pull forward again................it didn't move! At this point the I determined that the truck is officially stuck! I said to Rachel "you were right, call AAA." She did and since the estimated time to get to us was over an hour away she mixed up some hamburger and we broke in the MHG.
Now, I share all of this to say this: I NEED TO LISTEN TO MY WIFE! I have known since we started dating that she is way smarter than I am and I should also have figured out that she is quite familiar with the place where she has been living all these years. But, she never rubbed it in and she never said I told you so but she did giggle just a little bit at one point. I guess I am just a blessed man who has the love of a great woman. I also have a great grill! Be blessed beyond belief today.
This Is A Great Story
You know, I was thinking. Yesterday was the big day! It was the day that the MHG was scheduled for deliver.....................at least that was the plan. At about 3:15 yesterday afternoon I was in a meeting when my wife called. I couldn't take the call so she left me a voicemail. Apparently the delivery people from Home Depot made the decision that they couldn't deliver the grill because we "requested" an after 4 p.m. delivery time and they wanted to reschedule. Now, let's start with the first few things that went wrong. When we were making the purchase of the grill we made it very clear that we "preferred" an after 4 p.m. delivery time but since they couldn't schedule a specific delivery time and since there were home health care workers at the house all day caring for my mother-in-law then they could deliver it anytime. I had also given them my cell number as the primary contact number. Niether of this pieces of information made it on to the paperwork. They left the message at the office where my wife works and she called me when she got the message.
Well, Rachel provided me with the necessary information that I needed to call Home Depot to work this whole thing out. Rachel said that when she spoke to them they were really nice and that I better not read them the riot act! Now, I am a patient man but I paid $60 bucks to have my new grill delivered on Tuesday and that's exactly what I wanted. So I called and spoke to a gentleman in the delivery department. I did not read him the riot act and he checked things out for me to see if the grill was still on the truck and if they could still make the delivery today. Well, as luck would have it they never loaded the grill! The decision was made by the dlievery people that since they could not deliver it after 4 p.m. then they would have to reschedule. Basically the grill was still sitting in the store. I told the gentleman who really was very polite through this whole thing that they were going to have to figure out a way to get my grill to me as I had planned for them to do. He transferred me to a manager (which is really what I wanted at this time).
I now explained this whole story again to Manager Ed! Manager Ed was trying to figure something out when I asked the question "do you guys have your rental delivery truck there today?" He said yes! I suggested that they refund my $60 bucks for delivery and I would then rent this truck and take the grill home myself. He suggested that they refund my $60 bucks for delivery and not charge me for the rental truck. We went with his plan. I was about half way to the Home Depot when I got a call from manager Ed. He said "Mr. Mollette I must appologize to you. You requested that we deliver the grill in the box but the delivery people have already assembled your grill and I don't have another one in stock still in the box." I told Ed that it was alright and that I would accept the pre-assembled grill (because they didn't charge me for assembly...another $30 saved). I get to home depot, they refunded my delivery charge and I went down to get the truck and my new grill. The grill was sitting there fully assembled so I went to look it over. Everything was there except the cover! I said to the gentleman at the rental desk "I thought the cover was included with the grill?" He called manager Brian (manager Ed had left for the day). Manager Brian looked at the card and I was mistaken, not a problem I could buy a cover later. Before the paperwork was finished manager Brian showed up with a grill cover in hand. He told me that the grill right next to mine (another Charmglow) did say that the cover was included and since I had so many problems that day he would give me this very nice $30 cover. I thanked him for this unexpected courtesy!
Now, this has already gone on too long for a normal post so I am going to get into the adventures of bringing the grill home tomorrow. Needless to say I have the warm fuzzies over the way that I was treated by all of those who helped me at the Pontiac Home Depot yesterday. What started out as mistakes and miscommunications turned out very well for the Pudgeman. During this entire process I never raised my voice in the least (or read anyone the riot act) and I was treated with kindness and courtesy during the entire process. I think that have secured me as a customer for many years to come. Tomorrow I will share with you the "I should've listened to my wife" story, for today be blessed beyond belief.
The MHG
You know, I was thinking. Well it was bound to happen and now it has, the Pudgeman has purchased a new grill! This little baby has been dubbed the MHG (medium honkin' grill)! It is not as big as the BHG that still resides at momma's house and will be used for the big three this summer. Here are the stats on the Charmglow Gourmet Series Stainless Steel Propane Gas Grill:
896 square inches of cooking area
4 main burners that put out 60,000 BTU
1 searing burner that puts out 18,000 BTU
1 rotisserie burner that puts out 15,000 BTU
1 side burner that puts out 12,000 BTU
All stainless steel construction and stainless steel cooking grates
Rotisserie kit and cover included
Although I am losing about 150 square inches of cooking area, I am gaining much more in quality and efficiency. I think I will have to be careful though, if I turn everything on high all at the same time it could have serious ramifications on wind shifts and weather patterns. I searched for almost three weeks before I made my final decision and I believe that I made a good one. The second place finisher would have been the BHG II but the guy at Sears would not cut the price enough on the very last floor model that they had, so I walked! I plan on using this bad boy often and look forward to the day that both it and we are grilling at our home somewhere in Lenawee County. Be blessed beyond belief today.
