His Plan

As I sit here in a "drivers lounge" at a truck dealer I keep thinking to myself "Why did I ever get into this industry?" Those of you that know me know that I am not a person that likes to be by themself. I used to be a very social person surrounded by my friends and family, but for the last 12 years I've been out here away from those that I care the most about. I could say that I was driven to it for the money, but honestly I think it has cost me more than I could have made by having a career at home. I could say I did it for the freedom, but that's not true either. I'm tied to the truck whenever I'm out here to make sure that dispatch can keep track of me and the load. Well I must have done it for the scenic views and gorgeous sunrises and sunsets. While I have to admit we live in the most beautiful country on the planet, I feel as tho it's part of my soul now, I know I haven't seen it all, but the beauty of it all seems to have worn thin on me. So, if none of these were the reason, then why?
    I think that the reason I came out here was several fold. I did it because I thought it was the best way to take care of my family. And I lost them. I did it for the financial security. And I've done all but go bankrupt. I did it to calm a "restless spirit". And found out that spirit was youthfull energy that has since been sapped away. I did it because I was uncontent in the state that I was. I didn't listen to wise council or to the small still voice inside me. I could blame others, but the truth of the matter is, they were my own personal choices. My own foolish choices.
    Granted hindsight is 20/20. I know now that they were foolish. At the time I thought I had the world in the palm of my hand. I didn't need anyones advice. I was wiser than the wisest of council. I knew this career would be a great boost in my life! How much more wrong could I have been? So, I've learned my lesson, right? Unfortunatly, probably not. I know that I have alot more hard lessons in my life. I know that I'm going to make more foolish choices. No matter how hard I try to listen to wise council, it seems my actions turn the other direction. Will I ever learn? Probably not.
    My one comfort in all this is that no matter what foolish choices I have made, God has somehow used them to teach me a lesson. I may be wierd but I find it fun and entertaining to look over my past and see how hard I've tried to screw it up, and God still uses it for His good plan. Odd, I know, but it keeps me in awe of His power and Glory. I would challenge each reader of this to take a look at their past, the lessons learned, and see how God has used that to His plan.
                                                                                              -Chuck

Catching up, once again.

Wow, it's been over 2 months since I've written anything. I guess that's part of the problem with my life, there's so much going on I rarely have a chance to write about it. That could be a good thing or bad. Take it as you will. I'll try not to bore anyone with the details except to say not alot of road has been covered even tho we've been busy. There are some new developments tho that I would like my readers (all 3 of you) to be aware of. After our hometime for the Christmas Holidays I will be venturing out on my own in the trucking world, again. It's more out of necessity than desire. Or maybe a healthy mixture of both. Allie is having the desire to spend more time with her kids, and who could blame her? They're awesome little squirts. And unfortunatly we aren't quite ready for me to stay home with her, here at the house. We both hope it won't be long before that is able to happen but for the time being, it's just not possible. So, that might afford me more time to write. Lucky you. You might now get to hear all my political ranting and raving, my ideas for helping the economy, the presidental race, and maybe some stories from the road. I've never been one with too many stories from the road tho, because I generally keep to myself out there. Turns out that's what keeps me out of trouble. I am also hoping to get back into my daily devotions and to quit smoking once and for all. THESE ARE NOT NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS. These are things that I should be doing anyway and have neglected way to long. I will be keeping the computer open in the sleeper of the truck to remind me that I need to do this whole blog thing more frequently. So, thats a quick update on the future... if that's possible. As for the last two months? Well, we made it home for all the major holidays (first time in 10 years) and while home we've been working on the house. We now have a stove, refridgerator, and a furnace. We're still saving up money to get the washer dryer and 2 more reliable vehicles. We'd like to keep the pickup, but need something with a little more pulling power and something else that will fit the whole family. As for the washer and dryer, well, cheap is the biggest attraction. The house is coming along slowly but is starting to really come together. we no longer have to walk around with shoes on thanks to new flooring in the first floor. S

Aching Body, Inner Peace.

As I sit here in my newly floored kitchen, I sit and think about my life thus far. It's had more ups and down than the worlds greatest roller coasters. I've been in love, had my heart broken, felt days of unsurpassed joy, and those that I swore the light at the end of the tunnel was an oncoming train. In all this I look back and see how God has used every moment, every messed up decision I've made, every waivering step to bring to where I am today and make me the man I am. We all have our trials and tribulations and none seem greater than our own, untill we really look deeply at other peoples lives. Then we see that we don't really have it that bad.
For all the mistakes and miss steps that I've made in my life, God has still used it to His glory and His honor. Some how, some way, He takes it all and makes it better. He does so much more than kiss my boo boos. He uses them to make me a better person. This makes me so thankful to be taken care of by the Creator. I know that no matter what, He's got my back. "When God is for us, who can stand against us?"
Today my body is aching from the hard work we did yesterday laying the new flooring in our kitchen. I would normally be complaining about it, but I find no reason to complain. Instead, I'm taking a different perspective on it. I consider it a blessing that I have a kitchen to lay flooring in. I look back on the past 2 or 3 years and can't hardly believe where we are today. 3 years ago I was going thru physical therapy after 2 surgeries on my back. Laid up in an apartment, hundreds of miles from family and friends, and not seeing much of a future for myself. Now here I sit in my debt free home, in a kitchen that, while not fully furnished, is paid for. I have an awesome wife, 2 step children that adore me, and am surrounded by family and friends that truly care how we are.
I still find it hard to look at my job as a blessing, because it takes me away from where I want to be, but I know that my Creator will use this time as a sharpening stone in my life as well. I have to just let Him finish knocking the rough edges off. This is where I find my peace to keep plugging away at my "dead-end, no end in sight, no promotion possible" j-o-b. I know that He has put me there for a reason during this time, and I just need to be thankful to be working at all.
So all in all, my aching body never felt so good!

My Study of Women in the Bible.

This month I have been studying the Book of Esther. An interesting account of a very young, and very beautiful lady who, by the will of God, becomes a queen and saves her people from being butchered.

I am not going to assume that those who might be interested in reading this blog have also read the book of Esther.

The Book of Esther starts with King Ahasuerus giving a feast for all of his officials and servants. All of the power of the land that he controlled was in attendance. At the same time the Queen Vashti had made a similar feast for the wives and the women of the land. On one of the days that the celebrating was happening King Ahasuerus decided to have his wife join him where he was and sent for her. When she refused to leave where she was, the King got furious. He asked his advisers what way she should be punished. His advisers saw that the queen by refusing to obey her King had mocked him and made a fool of him. Fearing that the other women of the land would follow in the queen's example, they advised him to banish the queen from himself and replace her with a beautiful and obedient queen. So King Ahasuerus did just this.

After his temper wore itself down, he sent his eunuchs to fetch the most beautiful virgins that his land had to offer.

Now in the town of Susa lived Esther and her cousin Mordecai. Since Esther's parents had died, Mordecai took her in as his own daughter. He had taught her to conceal that she was a Jew when she was taken from her home to be in the contest of beautiful virgins.

She pleased everyone around her and ended up becoming queen.

Shortly after Esther became queen, Mordecai overhears a plot to kill the King by two eunuchs that were furious with him. Mordecai told Esther, Esther told the King and after investigation found Mordecai's claim to be true and the two eunuchs were hung. The king had it written into his chronicles.

Now Around the same time, King Ahasuerus promoted Haman to set above all the princes, officials and council around him. This being so, the people of the land were to bow to him. Mordecai however didn't and this made Haman mad. When Mordecai was asked why he didn't bow to Haman he answered that he was a Jew and didn't have to. So Haman decided that ALL Jews needed to be killed. So Haman went to the king and told him that there was a pesky people that were spread through his land that lived by their own laws and that it was not PROFITABLE for them to remain in the King's land. So King Ahasuerus assigned Haman to take care of it. Now Haman decided to send letters to all of the towns, provinces, cities and villages in his land instructing that on a single date, every enemy of a Jew was to kill them and take everything they owned. And all of these letters were sealed with the kings royal seal.(making it more or less a command)

When Mordecai and the other Jews heard about this command, they became fretful, and Mordecai requested an audience with Queen Esther and begged her to help her people. Telling her that she could continue to conceal who she was and live but by denying her people she would forfeit her place in the afterlife. So she made a plan and went to the King.

The king seeing her distressed asked her what he could do to ease her pain. She asked to have a banquet with the King and Haman and she would tell all then. So the banquet was held and the king asked again what was troubling her, not knowing how to explain she stalled and asked to have a banquet a second night. The king allowed this.

That night the king wasn't able to sleep, so he had his chronicles read to him. He remembered Mordecai and realized that he had not been honored for this good deed. During this same time Haman and his family were having gallows made for Mordecai to be hung.

The next day Haman was summoned by the King and asked how to best honor someone. Haman thinking that the King was meaning him, he said that the best of honors would be to be ridden through the town on the King's horse wearing the Kings robes, and having all the people of the town praise and bow to him in the streets. Liking this the king commanded Haman to do this for Mordecai immediately. Humiliated and furious, Haman did this and Mordecai was praised and honored through out the town.

That night at the second banquet, the king asked Esther what was troubling her and that he would give what ever she wanted and up to half his kingdom and wealth to fix what was bothering her. So she revealed that she herself was a Jew and that Haman had plotted to have her people murdered. This made the king furious and he had Haman hang on the gallows that Haman had made for Mordecai. Right away letters were written and sent though all the land that the Jews were not to be harmed and that anyone who took up a sword against them would be killed and their land and everything they had would be plundered. This was also written with the king's royal seal.

So as it happened, the day that Haman had set to kill all the Jews arrived and instead of the Jews being killed by their enemies, the Jews were able to defend themselves and kill their enemies instead and plunder them. When news of this reached the King, he asked what she wanted to be done, so she asked that they let it continue one more day. So it did, and for two days the Jews were able and allowed to distroy their enemies. And it was recorded in not only chonicles of the King but also started the Jewish holiday of Purim.

So it also came to pass that Mordecai rose to Haman's possition at King Ahasuerus' side with Queen Esther on the other.

Now the lessons I have learned from this book is that:

• You may not always be able to clearly see, hear or know God's plan for you, but it will end up being done regardless.


• You are always in the right place at the right time to do the right thing. But actually doing the right thing is up to you.


• You can always take a bad situation and make the outcome better then it would have been with a different attitude.

Chuck the "great" story-teller.

Last night while starting off our family devotions I realized that our 6 yr old didn't seem too interested. So I stopped Allie from continueing to read and started scolding both the kids. As I was scolding them, I got to thinking.
First, They are not used to this whole "Bible stuff" because their dad is an atheist and their step mom is a backslidden christian. They've been to church with us a couple of times a few years ago, but this is not a part of their routine.
Second, They're kids! I seriously doubt that I was interested in what the book of Proverbs had to tell me when I was 9 or 6. Even tho Allie and I get alot out of reading and re-reading the book, these kids can hardley understand the language in the ESV translation.
 So, the scolding stopped and I calmed down about it. We stopped the reading all together! Instead I resorted to something that I hope was an effective back up plan for them. I decided to do my best at telling the stories of the old testament instead. Now, it's been years since I've read or heard some of these stories and I'm sure I messed up some of the details, but I did my best from what I could remember. Last night I told the story of Daniel in the lions den, mixed in with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednigo in the fiery furnace. I thew in a little of King Nebachanezzer turning into the beast as well. Like I said, I'm sure I messed up some of the details. My memory isn't what it used to be and I was working on the fly without time to look up the actual scriptures.
I was amazed to see the transformation. They couldn't pull their eyes off of me the whole time. I had their undivided attention. I used alot of vocal inflections and facial expressions. I had them laughing one moment then scared the next. It was awesome. I knew they were listening because our 6 year old kept asking about Daniel ( I had stopped his story in the middle and went on to the furnace on purpose). She was worried he was going to get eaten by the lions. Then when I paused for dramatic effect during the furnace story, and saying there were 4 people in the fire, she yelled out "It was God protecting them!" All in all I think I got the point across.
So tonight we decided (with the help of my mom) to have a small bonfire in the back yard. After Mom left, the kids both asked if I would retell the story of "King Nebabkinizer". I told them no that I wouldn't tell them that one but I had a new one for them tonight. So, again on the fly, I started the story of Abram and Sarai. I went thru the mountain top sacrifice with Isaac (6 year old was almost in tears) and on thru to Joseph and the coat of many colors. Again, not remembering all the details, but doing my best to wing it and make sure a lesson was taught. Again I had their FULL attention. It was awesome! When I finished up the whole mess of stories, I asked them what we could learn from them and they both nailed it! God protects us even tho he tests us.
On the way back to the house, Allie took me by the hand and told me I was a great story teller. She said that she was just as enthralled as the kids were. Who would have thought that just "winging it" could be so great. I know I messed things up and some of the more strict christians would probably cringe at the mistakes I made, but it was still good enough to get the morals thru to the kids. I guess its the sort of thing that "Veggie Tales" was based off. A loose interpertation of the greatest best seller ever. The Bible.

I know I should be doing something!

Here I am, sitting in my dining room, by myself, and all I can think is that I'm sure there is something that I should be doing. It's midnight local time, the kids are in bed, Allie is upstairs making sure they stay in their rooms/ reading who knows what. And here I sit. I could say that I am just relaxing, but isn't sleep more relaxing? And still here I sit. Winding down? I'm not sure I know what that really means. It's been so long since I've lived a "normal" life. I really and truly don't know what to do with myself. So here I sit, letting my mind wander. Let me say, once that starts going, it's hard to stop it. Yey here I sit. I know that there must be something I should be working on, but I don't dare make any noise and wake the kids. Have I become a work-a-holic? I'm not sure. I've always worked hard. This peace and quiet, tho very nice, is so very unusual. No rumbling of a truck engine, no bouncing in a bunk while I read myself to sleep. I know that some day this will be my life, for I hate the industry I'm in. I know that this is the way life should be. Yet is just seems so calm. So quiet. Has the background noise of my life completely deadened my senses? I'm not sure. I know I like this, but it's sure gonna take some getting used to.
I thank God that I have this peace not only in my house but in my heart. I know that this is right. It just seems so foreign to me. No fighting, crying, whining. A man could really fall in love with life all over again if it were more like this everyday. It's rare that I get these occasions to just sit and think. I could really get used to it. -Chuck

oops!

i know that i dont get on here nearly enough. and i cant really say that i have tried hard. just been really busy with work, buying and starting to fix the house, kids, hubby, and friends that i do my best to stay in contact with. to be continued.

My monthly update.

Well, as much as I would like to try and keep up with this thing, it seems I can hardley find the time. I was hoping that I could at least keep up with it on a weekly basis. No such luck. So all of you crazy "Chuck and Allie groupies" will just have to tolerate my tardiness in my update. Since I last wrote we've had alot of changes happen. So listen up.
 We moved out of Joplin, MO. 3 weeks before the devastation of the F-5 tornado that ripped thru there. We know that it was solely God's grace that gave us the oppourtunity to move when we did. You see, almost 3 years ago I injured my back while at work and won a cash settlement in a lawsuit against the company. It was just a waiting game as to when the company would actually pay up. We knew that when we recieved the money we were going to be moving back to michigan, but we were told that we may not get it till June or July. Well by God's grace we recieved the settlement the first week of May. So we took the time off of work to get all our belongings packed up and moved to our storage unit in Michigan. We had originally planned it for the last week of May, but became too excited and just couldnt wait that long. So long story short, we moved out of Joplin 3 weeks before the tornado almost wiped it out.
While in Michigan moving our stuff into storage we called up a realtor and requested to look at 1 house. We immediatly fell in love with this "distressed" foreclosure. We could see the potential in it and it came with six acres! We immediatly made an offer on the house and after over a month of "bartering" with the bank (wich included a credit for stolen plumbing) we closed on the house. So as of June 22, 2011 we became "debt free" home/ land owners. Thanking God all the way to the bank. If you've been following either of us on facebook you know just how excited we are to have this blessing in our lives. As much work as needs to be done, and there is alot, we still know that it is a blessing straight from the hands of God. We could have never done it without His guidance. For the first time in my adult life do I feel like I am truly providing for my wife and kids. No one (except God) will ever be able to take this away from us.
So, as you may see, we've been busy as a hive of bees. We both apologize for not keeping up on this, but, well, you know. We've been busy. Thanks for your patience and for taking the time to read my ramblings. May God bless your homes as much as He's blessed ours.
"As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." Joshua 24:15

What in the world have you been drinkin?

Ok, so heres the deal. Neither of us have had time to collect even absent minded thoughts long enough to write them down. We both apologize. Anyway, for those of you that might actually care... we have officially moved our stuff from Joplin, MO. back to Swartz Creek, MI. We haven't technically moved yet, in fact we're sorta between housing. So I guess you could say that we're homeless, but it's all ok. We're living in our truck for the time being and have put an offer in on a house. It's a great little 1,400 sq ft. house on 6 acres outside of the Flint, MI. area. If we get the house it's going to be for a total steal! We've already started making plans for bonfires, halloween parties and the such. Needless to say we're a little excited. We should be hearing back about it in the next week. Then it's back to Michigan to close and move in. Oh, and remodel a little bit. Other than that it's just been a hectic life in the truck. Even tho the miles haven't been that great this month, it seems like we're working harder to get them done. Still not sure how that works. We've also started a diet and exercise program. So, yeah, we've sorta been going a little crazy. Trust me tho, its not anything we've been drinkin!

So darn sorry...

I am a little behind... on my writing that is. There are only a few things that have really happened that is even remotely note worthy...
I have realized that I am eating myself to death, so I have gone on a diet (to the relief of my worried husband). Although I started it reluctantly, I am already seeing the benefits. I am hoping that I can lose a noteable amount of weight.

And the Insanity Continues.

Wow, we've had a couple of really busy weeks. We've been a little too preoccupied to even think about the blog. For this I apologize, well, at least to those that might care. Anyway, In the last couple of weeks, besides work we've, packed up all our belongings into a rental truck, drove from Joplin, MO, to Swartz Creek, MI., and unloaded said rental truck. Visited with some dear friends, looked at a house to buy, put offer in on house and drove back to Joplin in order to go back to work. All this in just 5 days. Now, we get back to work and on the way to Salt Lake City the truck decides to act up. Giving us some down time and me a chance to at least do something on here.I'm a little tired, so I think I'm gonna try and nap, then if there's still enough time, I'll write some more on here. TaTa for now.

For the very (sort of) time

Chuck, my darling husband is wanting me to get involved in blogging. Ramblings, random thoughts, feelings, and other frantic nothings that happen periodicly throughout my head, or throughout my day (or night as is my case). Um, Here we go. Out of boredom, I decided to re-type the about me in my facebook profile. In it I am fairly straight forward, though even I will admit that some of it seems a little rude. I don't mean to be rude, I just want someone that may not know that part of me to at least see the warning. Kind of a "writing on the wall" sort of thing. Truth is I am not a person that has all of my thoughts easily organized like other people seem to. I am a very scattered person more often then not. I am not stupid or anything like that, I just have a very, very short attention span. Which works great for me in the truck because I don't have to concentrate on one car or truck for to long... I am already feeling like I am not being very good at this. Usually without running feedback it is more difficult to have on running thoughts. But I guess this is supposed to help me collect and zero in on one thought or another. Well lets see how that goes. But enough for now. At least I started. Allie

Gods looking for "A few good men".

While sitting here in Southern California I decided it would be a good idea to be some what productive with my time, so I decided to do a "little" Bible study. It started out as I was just going to take a few notes on what I was being led to read, and well... it gotta a little outta control. So I figured, this is where I am supposed to publish stuff like that... and well, here we go. Forgive me if the format doesn't quite work or there is some other thing that goes wrong. I am new to this whole blogging thing and still not overly confident in my skills. Anyway, without further adu, here is what started out as a little Bible study. Hope you like it.

God's Looking For "A Few Good Men".

Titus 1:5-9

I. God is looking for good men to be leaders in His church.

       A. vs.5 "appoint elders in every town as I directed you."

               every town would refer to there being local church establishments.

       B. II Tim. 2:2 "entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others"

       C. I Tim. 1:3 "so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine"

       D. Acts 14:23 "And when they had appointed elders for them in every church"

God has called certain people to leadership in their communities. These leaders can be preachers, elders, deacons, or simply influential people in the community around them. As having been gifted with a position of leadership there comes several character traits that are required. These are in the home, church, and local community

II. What defines a "good man" at

    A. Home

        1. "Above reproach"- to not easily find anything to criticize about him. No suspect behavior, 

              above disgrace or shame.

        2. "Husband of one wife"- I don't believe that this is referring to divorce, but rather to an attitude.

              The idea of being so "in love" with your wife divorce doesn't even enter the mind. Being a

              "one woman man", being blinded by the love you have for your wife so much that you don't

               notice other women.

        3."children are believers" why is this important in being a leader? Our children are the one group

            of people that we have influence over from the time they are born. If during there life, they

             haven't seen our faith in us enough to become believers themselves, then we're not doing a

             good job leading our own household.

        4." not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination"- I think these are the extremes that

              could happen. Obviously if our children are involved in drunkenness and sexual immorality,

              then we've done something wrong. Same goes for insubordination. If your child blatantly

              disregards your role as a parent in their life, then your not a very strong leader. It is because

              of our love for our children that we discipline them.

     B. Church

           1."above reproach" - repeated, therefore, must be of some importance.

           2. "must NOT be,"

                 a. arrogant- several times thru out scripture we see God calling to the most humble of people and using them for great things. Noah was the only righteous man God could find on the earth at the time. I'm sure that made him really popular among his contemporaries. Especially when he told them that it was going to rain and the earth would be flooded. Yet God used His humble servant to save mankind. Abraham was an old childless man at a time in history where children were considered part of your wealth. God used him to be the "father of many nations" David was a mere shepherd boy, and Moses had a speech problem, and they both led Israel. All these men and many more had reasons to be embarrassed and even humiliated, but God used them to transform history. To lead Gods church one must be humble.

                 b. quick tempered- This is not saying that we must not get angry. It's saying that we shouldn't have a short fuse if we are to lead God's people. Short fuses = rash decisions and God hates those. They never turn out for our own betterment. Moses breaking the tablets, David and Bathsheba, Peter and the Temple Guard. God can use a reaction, but he prefers to use a thought out action.

                 c. a drunkard- drunkenness is not a useful character trait for anything. When a person is drunk they tend to lose all inhibitions and frequently ignore their conscience/ Gods voice. While "a little wine" may be good for the body, alot of alcohol is good for nothing.

                 d. violent- How easy is it to attract someone to yourself when your punching them in the face? Violence is rarely a good quality and always brings more violence.

                 e. Greedy for gain- this doesn't say what kind of gain, just gain. So as a leader, we should not be looking to make a name for ourselves, or to make a fortune for ourselves. That should not be our driving force.

     C. Community

           1. Hospitable- The definition of hospitable is favorable to life and growth. A leader must be favorable to the life and growth of their community. What are you doing in your community? How are you leading your community to growth? To life? what kind of growth? Cancerous growth? I think of the "slum lords" of the big cities. Sure, you get a place to live for next to nothing, but it's not in the slightest bit habitable. The furnace doesn't work and you get more water from the hole in the roof than from the plumbing. What kind of life does that encourage? What kind of growth is that? we should be hospitable in our dealings with our community so we may reflect the love of Christ.

           2. a lover of good- not just a person who likes good or wants to do good. A LOVER of good. Well, what is good? I had to go back to the dictionary for this one. Even tho I know what good is, I couldn't describe it. This is what my dictionary says: That which is beneficial, admirable, pleasing, valuable, or useful. Wow! Do those words describe the things that you "love"? I think Philippians 4:8 says it nicely. " Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."

          3. self controlled- When we think of self control many different things can come to mind. Control of the tongue, the body, the mind. How often do we lose control of these things? How often do we let a curse word slip? How many times while reading this has your mind slipped? It doesn't have to be evil to be bad. We should have control over these things more often than not.

         4. upright- When I think of this word I think of my piano teacher always trying to get me to correct my posture. "Sit upright Chuckie" she would say. Now as an adult I try to keep my posture in check because of back problems. One thing I've realized in this is that when my posture is correct I look more confident. I feel more confident. Are we confident in what we say we believe? Do we have faith in our faith?

         5. holy- We are to present ourselves a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable according to Rom. 12:2. Holy things are things that are set apart for the purpose of use by God. The holy of Holies was where God could manifest Himself in old testament times. We are to be the temple of God thru Christ. Are you a "holy" temple. Are you set apart from the world for God? Would other people know that?

         6. disciplined- much like self control but not the same. Discipline is the act of chastising ourselves when we fail. It is the recognition and decision to change what we were doing. It is the committing of ourselves to a standard higher than ourselves. Are you committed to the standard set by Christ? Do you even know that standard?

III. Conclusion.

       vs.9 "He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give

                instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it."

We are to keep the trustworthy word. what is more trustworthy than the word of God? We are to know that word so that we can teach others, and rebuke those that preach against it. Do you know your trustworthy word? Do you know how to teach that word? Do you know how to defend it? This is what we as leaders in our homes, churches, and communities are charged to do. How can we teach that which we do not know? How can we defend the testimonies of the saints if we're not familiar with them? We need to take charge in these arena's and be the "few good men" that God charged us with. Can you handle the truth?

-Chuck

Testing, Testing....

Well, another week has gone by in the Sherwood truck/ Home, and we're still not getting the miles/money we would like to see. But that's OK. Or at least that's what I'm telling myself. I have reason to believe that this is a test from God. I'm not sure but I think it is. You see even tho we're not making what we can/ would like to be, we're still doing more than treading water. We're above survival mode. Bills are getting paid and some is still getting put aside into saving for a house. Here's the catch tho. As many of you may already know, We've been looking forward to buying a house for a while now. We've been promised a large financial windfall and have just been waiting on it. All the while still "window shopping" for a house. Keeping our eye on the market and what not. We've fallen in love with several houses over the last year, only to see them taken away from us before we could even think to snatch them. We don't really want to mortgage anything and would like to be able to buy cash out right. Besides that it's tough to get a mortgage now-a-days. Especially when your credit score looks as bad as mine does. Anyway, I know that the perfect house is out there for us, but this waiting game is getting on my nerves. I know I have to be patient, I know God will provide, I know, I know.... But MAN! REALLY! The day before I was informed that my financial windfall had finally come in, the latest "gotta have it house" went off the market! Back to square one. Back to searching the thousands of foreclosed home in the area we are hoping to buy in. Only to have another stolen from under us?
Anyway, house or no house, we are planning on moving out of our apartment in Joplin, MO. We're just going to put everything in our storage unit in MI. untill we can find a house. For those of you interested the tenantive date for that move is April 28- May 2, 2011. If you've got a strong back and some spare time that weekend, we would sure appreciate the help moving things into the storage unit. If not, that's ok. We'll use your prayers in finding the perfect house in the mean time.
Just another ramble.... thats all.

Smelly Roses!

For most people, the last few weeks would probably be described as relaxing, and maybe even fun. That's not the case for me. For me, the last few weeks have been a trial in patience. You see, patience has never been my strong suit. I don't know why but I always feel rushed and often think that everyone else should be as well. Especially when it comes to work!
It's not that I don't like my job, like any other it has it's ups and downs. Lately though, I've found it very difficult to find contentment with it. You see, I drive truck over the road with my wife. It's not the easiest lifestyle, and very seldom accommodating for any type of relaxation. That's why I'm good at it. It's a high pace, high speed job and I LOVE that. Lately tho, we've been sitting around....A LOT! There hasn't even been a reason to have my wonderful wife on the road except that the court requires her to have a job to pay her child support. If that wasn't the case, There really wouldn't be any reason for her to sacrifice being at home. I got into this occupation because I heard it paid well, and I like to travel. Thought what the heck, why not get paid for doing what I enjoy. That was 12 years ago. Since then, I've become really really good at what I do. I have clocked over a million miles behind the wheel, and only had 2 minor accidents in the 12 years I've been doing it. I've trained about a dozen other drivers and won a couple of safe driving awards. All of this makes it sound like I might be a valuable piece of the driving community. I know how to run hard and thats what I like to do. It didn't use to be unusual for Allie and I to cross the country 3 times in a week. Now it seems its unusual for us to cross 2 state lines in the same day.
I say all of this to come to one point. God is working in me. He is teaching me lessons in patience. I've never been one to be patient before. As I said earlier, I feel like I'm always in a rush. Well, I'm being forced to put the brakes on. I'm being given the time to do things that He must think are important. Like Bible devotions every day. Discipling my wife in the faith, and growing deeper roots for myself. I feel that my uncontentment in my job is even there for a purpose. I think that there are better things for me out there than being a truck driver. I believe that when God called me into leadership at the age of 10 He meant it. I now believe that He has not taken that calling off me. So, in my inpatience with work, God is still working. Granted, patience has to be learned, but He's still using me despite my inpatience. And I am learning. I gave up fighting with dispatch for more miles. I've determined that we're going to lean more on God. He is the one in control weather or not we like it. I'm learning that taking time for Him and me is not a sin. I'm learning that there is a purpose to the trial. So, I'm learning to stop and smell the roses.

First Weeks lesson in Zephaniah

As some of you may know, Last week my wife challenged me to a two week study in the book of Zephaniah. If you didn't know that, well, now you do. When I was first challenged, I thought,"Man, It's only 3chapters long! How could I study 3 chapters for two weeks and get anything out of it?"  Well, even tho it was a tall order to fill, leave it to God to teach me all kinds of things from a book that gets routinely overlooked.
First I found it very interesting that in Chapter 1 all that Zephaniah does is fortell of the coming judgment of Judah. And boy does he get descriptive. It speaks of how God is going to sweep away man and beast, birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea. I'm no scholar but that sounds pretty definative to me. That sounds like a clean sweep of the planet, not just Judah. I'm not sure and somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that it is talking about the last days. Verse 7 begins talking about the "day of the Lord is near". Verse 17 isn't exactly comforting when it says "I will bring distress on mankind, so that they shall walk like the blind, because they have sinned against the Lord; their blood shall be poured out like dust, and their flesh like dung."
Yep, If theres one thing to be said about the prophet Zephaniah, its, He wasn't out to win friends. He didnt cut corners and he said it as he saw it. I just can't get away from the thought that this has got to be talking about the last days. Theres too much destruction of the earth being mentioned for any other time in history.
Chapter 2 then goes on to talk about the judgement that the enemies of Judah will face. Again, not winning friends here! Probably one of the most surpriseing things I found here was the mention of Gaza in verse 4. It says "For Gaza shall be deserted". Considering all the trouble that I've always heard over the Gaza strip, I find it ironic that it will be deserted. Here Israel and Palastine have been fighting over this land for the better part of my life or longer and the Bible says that it will be deserted. In verse 6 he says that the seacoast is going to be pastures and meadows for shepherds and their flocks. Again very interesting. Most seacoast is productive with harbors for trade and fishing, and yet he says they will be meadows. That's definately different from the way it is today.
Amid all this destruction and turmoil, their is still a promise from God. In the last part of verse 7 it says " For the Lord will be mindful of them and restore their fortunes. What we force God to take away from us because of our disobedience, He will restore when we repent, turn our faces back to him and live within His will again. This is the promise that we all get to enjoy. I am so thankful for this one promise. I am so thankful that He can and will restore our spiritual fortunes when we seek Him again. Praise God. Tho we may falter and fail, He is a patient God and wants to draw us back to Himself. We must turn from our wickedness and seek Him. When we don't we are preventing the blessings and fortunes that God has in store for us.
Lord, Thank you so much for your saving grace. Lord thank you for guiding me back to you. Thank you for the blessings and fortunes you have in store for me. Thank you for not allowing the destruction that we bring on ourselves to not be permanent. Give us the desire to walk closer to you daily that we might reflect your glory and majesty in our lives. Thank you for the words of Zephaniah. Thank you for teaching me thru this book. May I continue to learn what you would have me learn in this study. In Jesus Name, Amen

Eating with the swine.

Ok, I guess this is my first official blog post. Again, I really dont care how many people follow or what not. It's more for just what the title says, Absent Minded Ramblings. For those of you that do care to read what has been happening in our lives, here you go.
What I want to share today has to do with the faith in our household. You see, I've been a "christian" since I was 5 years old, but I haven't always been a close follower of the faith. Growing up I was a good kid, went to church everytime the doors were open and very rarely got in any trouble with authorities outside of my home. I knew that I was saved, but wasn't sure just what that meant. I knew that I had faith in Christ, but didn't understand the importance of "walking" in the faith. As an "adult" I went to Bible college, met a "christian" woman, married and had kids. Only to be divorced 10 years later. I walked away from the faith almost the same time I said "I do" to my young bride. I walked away from the faith of my fathers. I lived a "wholesome" life through out my first marriage, but it wasn't enough to keep things together.
After the divorce, I got together with an unsaved woman that was a self declared "wiccan/ pagan". I knew that this went against everything that I was taught about being equally yoked, but I didn't care. I had been just as unequally yoked with my ex-wife. Besides, I wasn't going to marry this woman, I was just going to date/ live with her. Again, going against everything I was ever taught. Not long after we started dating I felt extremely convicted that she needed to be led to Christ, and thats what I did. I led her to Christ. Easy 'nough. Now I wasn't unequally yoked. Now to go on with our lives, and that's just what we did. We lived a very immoral life. I wanted to come back to the family of God but I knew that I was just too dirty now. I lived in sin and refused to quit. I wanted to quit, just not bad enough. I wanted to do it for all the wrong reasons. I wanted to for my parents pride, my kids "moral" teachings. I didn't want to clean up my act because I should, because it was wrong. I lost all self control and was just gliding thru life. I felt like the actions of my recent past were negating everything I believed God had called me to. I knew God had called me to a life of leadership, but I couldn't even lead my own household.
I knew that if I could get ahold of just one area in my life that I would gain that much more self control and the changes could then start happening. So my wife and I decided that we were going to stop smoking. We fought this battle for 3 years. I finally took charge of my decisions and would not fail again Jan. 19, 2011. I chose to never light another cigarette. Sure enough not long after that, I had the oppourtunity to see my teenage mentor who told me that I could still be in a position of leadership, but I had to get things on track spiritually first. So that is what we've been doing. We've been working on daily devotionals, and scripture memorization.I am finally doing my duty as a husband and teaching my wife about the God that we both cling to now. She's an apt pupil too. She has a ton of questions and is better at memorizing scripture than I am. Her lack of knowledge of biblical thing is my own challenge to dig deeper. Since January, we've gone thru Proverbs almost 2 wholes times as well as reading Romans, Matthew and are now working our way thru Mark. We've faltered and stumbled, but we're NOT giving up. We are changing our lives. We will be truly Christ like. I won't be a luke warm, watered down christian anymore. We will be focused, fired up servants of our God. Praise God for His saving grace, and forgiveness. This is one prodigal son that has eaten with the swine long enough. I've come home and He is providing a feast. I've never been so hungry for the Word.
Joshua 24:15 "And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, Choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beynod the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."

Just Starting this out.

I'm not sure how often I'll be able to keep up on this thing, but I thought I would give it a shot. Not so much that other people could read what is going on, but more as a source of venting. If anyone decides to follow this thing then so be it. I don't expect alot, but I do plan on just putting some of the lessons that I'm learning in life on here. I plan on putting my own personal Bible Studies on here. So if you would like to follow those your more than welcome to. If you have thoughts, comments, or disagreements, feel free to let me know. I'm always willing to open my thoughts and widen my mental horizens. If i find that I still disagree with you, well, I'm always up for a good mental debate. Foul language will not be tolerated, nor will any hateful speech. You may have the freedom of speech, but I have the right to have a clean blog. Don't step on my morals and I won't mess with yours either. So... anyway.... Here is my blog. Welcome to the jungle that can be my mind at times.