Thoughts and Reflections

So had another revelation this moring while reading Colossians 3:19 "Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them." Okay great I get it.... love my wife, simple enough to understand..... Be not bitter against them.... okay so do not hold a grudge against them because they have more friends or are more outgoing.... HMM, no peace on that thought? So what does He mean here? I had no peace on my "definition" for the word bitter used in this verse. So much so that I finally scrounged around and found our dictionary. Was not to hard to find. I mean it is the size of a small brick.... ANYWAYS..... So I looked up the word bitter and here is what  I found: 1. Sharp. or biting in taste: acrid; like wormwood . 2. Sharp; cruel; severe; as bitter enmity . 3.  Sharp, as words; reproachful; sarcastic.    4.  Sharp to the feeling; piercing; painful; that makes to smart; as a bitter cold day, or a bitter blast.   5. Painful to the mind; calamitous; po...

Okay, the title includes myself..... seriously.... So for some reason sleep was not allowed last night.... I finally gave up and crawled out of bed at 4AM and started getting ready for work. Was not a big deal because it gave me more time to read my Bible. I was able to read through all of Ephesians. So many of us know that Ephesians 5 talks to wives and husbands. As a man the first verses I would love to focus on are Ephesians 5:22-24. Preach to those wives....... but then I looked at the rest of the chapter... God used Paul to talk to the wives in three verses. He then spent the next 9 verses (Ephesians 5:25-33) speaking to the men. HHMM, wonder who needs the most help?? So it got me to thinking. The verses talk of how God gave himself for the church. Well, who is the church? Lets break it down. What is a church really? The church is made up of Christians. What is a christian? People (sinners) who have accepted the death, burial, and ressurection of Jesus Chri...

Well let's see..... been days since I posted anything and much has actually happened. But I am at a loss for what to really say. Like you all I have good days and bad days. I hate to admit it sometimes but it sure seems like my bad days outnumber my good days. I can only assume that I am not the only one who feels that way. Moving on....... So been reading and I have been shown another issue of life that I have taken up as a "habit". Scornful... Hard to admit a sin sometimes, but then again if we do not confess them God cannot do a work in our life to help us overcome them now can He? I was not at all "surprised" by this revelation. To be honest I think God has been tying to point it out to me for some time now. But of course being human I either ignored Him or would not accept it as being a problem I had. However, when I was reading Proverbs 22:10, I was shown what else God could work on in my life if I would only confess and forsake this particular sin in m...

So today I had a kind of epiphany. WE choose how things affect us daily, if not hourly or by the minute. Just like everyone else in the world, I have events, comments, attitudes, and people who get on my nerves or upset me. Make me frustrated or angry even. Pretty dumb that today on my way to work I got thinking about it. It dawned on me that I was choosing how it all affected me. Sure it is easy to get upset with people when they do not do what you think they should or would like them to. It's just as easy to ignore the times you do not meet your own expectations for yourself. So my thought was, if I can ignore/forgive myself for my failings, why can't I just as easily forgive others. Answer?  MY PRIDE!!! Duh.. I wanted something to be done the way I wanted or wanted to be able to do what someone else got to do instead of them. Pretty much placing myself as the most important. Sigh, so much time lost to stewing over the issues instead of saying "Meh, it dosen't real...

So last week started off with a hunting trip. It was a blast. Did not get to shoot anything but that is okay. However, God did something that I was not "expecting". During the weeks of prep before the trip, I had just had a small thought and prayer about the trip. I had memories of when we got to be of assistance to a gentleman years ago on a caribou hunt. We were able to assist him in getting his kill into his vehicle. It was quite the ordeal. Anyways, I was thinking back on that trip and had the thought/prayer, "God, it would be cool if nothing else we could be a help to someone on our trip". to be honest, I had forgotten about it up until we came across a man by the name of Greg who was in a really bad spot. I may have forgotten, but God did not. What a blessing it was to help him get his truck out of the situation he had put it in. As soon as we saw the truck, I was instantly reminded of what I had asked God to "do" (?) for me. We assisted him and he...

Sigh, I will not trouble you with the details..... Just know that I am human and still struggle with the mental frustrations of life. Of course the ramifications of past decisions are a struggle for me as well. I hate the fact that my past actions have caused people to "change" or look at me differently. You ever wish things could be like they were?............ 

You ever have one of those nights where sleep seems to evade you? I have too! Last night was different though. I fell asleep just fine. It was the waking up at 2AM in the midst of a battle that was different. Unbelievable how this can happen. Just so you know I am still human and struggle the same as you. Last night was one of those times where I let a personal "struggle" cause me grief. No it was not a sinful struggle. There is nothing wrong with the issue that I am having. It is however one that from time to time is used against me to cause me grief or attempt me to trip and fall. Last night I of course tried to handle it myself. Was failing of course so then I turned it over to God. Problem fixed? No, not really. I still hurt some because of this struggle, but God knows about it and cares for me. He can do what He wants with it. I am trusting in Him to give me the strenght to accept His answer. I have the answer I want for it, but it may not be what he wants. Ha...

So, I finished off my last post mentioning praying for others. How many did you uplift? Still just yourself? Did you assist in the lifting up of others? I will say this, it is interesting how God can put a thought in my heart and mind on one day and continues the theme even through the service Wednesday night. I whole heartedly agree that we need to move from being the selfish people we are to ones who "step out in faith" and lift up others. Is it easy? Well, we are battling with the flesh and it is easy to say no. But that is factoring out that fact that we are not in this alone. God wants us to be thinking of others and not self, therefore He will be right there with us during the fight. To be honest He wants it more than we do. IF we would lean on that fact, the fight would be "easier". I have not attained, but will work at it myself. So for today? Yeah, ups and downs as always. I found that if I allowed my focus to drift back to selfish things my day "a...

Labor day weekend. Took Monday off and now here it is Tuesday and I still feel like today is a Monday. Oh Well. It's interesting how you can be so selfish about things in your life. I believe that it is all a sign of just how Prideful we as humans really are. We spend so much of our time focussing on what we can get out of every situation. Now I am not saying that the things we are wanting are wrong or sinful. I am saying that the focus on ourselvs and what we get are contrary to what God teaches us in his Word. I am not any better than others out there. I struggle with the same faults as every one else. So yes, I am in it for myself as well sometimes. I am learning that it is causing more trouble than it is worse. What happens is you start to focus so much on how things are not going the way you want. Or you are not getting what you want, that you become very upset, angry, or depressed. I dunno, maybe I am a good example of what not to be or do because of wrong focus in my life...

Alright, I figured I would kick this off properly. Instead of trying to remember where I was at on my last post, I would start this one off with the greatest event ever to happen. The year is 2008, things for me seemed to by spiraling out of control. I was having problems at work, home, pretty much everywhere. The reasons for it though..... I had no idea. As was my custom for the past few years I had decided to once gain be a counselor or whatever was needed at Teen Camp. I really had been enjoying it because i got to see God make some changes in a teens life. Either in their changing of attitudes, convictions or salvation. To be honest I struggled right up to the first day of camp. As we headed out to Twin Bears, I was still not sure I wanted to be there (I really had no idea or strong opinion of why that was). Anyways, camp kicked off and I had a new cabin of boys to look after. It was different this year because the boys got the side of camp the girls normally did. If I remember c...

Alright, first day is over. Went okay for what it was. Enjoying sons ice cream cake he wanted for his birthday and then getting ready for tomorrow. Then looking forward to a trip into the woods on the 19 and 20 with my dad and son. If I can swing it I might get a trip into the woods with my wife too. Only problem there is the sleeping conditions are rough, such as sleeping in the bed of a pick-up or something like that. anyways, I will be testing the posting limit for one post here in a couple days. I am looking forward to it and think you will enjoy it.

Well, apparently my old "blog" is no more so I will try to use this one. No it is not going to be updated every day Like I will try to accomplish. This is mostly to express thoughts, ideas, and other randomness. Thinking back to my last site and where I left off...... I have a lot to catch up on. I will do what I can, but am looking at this as being a "start over". For those who read this.... Thanks for stopping by. If you come back again, Thanks for that as well. Just know that I appreciate your taking the time to read this.