Category: God

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Animals Driving Food God History Music Travel

Thursday Night Mini Thoughts

– Let’s get spontaneous.
– Let’s not hold nothin’ back.
– Can we talk here ?
– Today I ate Lunch at the Longhorn Steakhouse.
– It’s transitioning into a weekly tradition for me.
– It’s my favourite of all of the new eating joints that have opened recently.
– Homestead has come a long way over the past few years.
– We are turning in to quite the eating mecca down here in suburbia.
– I dig that since eating food is one of my favourite hobbies.
– So next Friday night I’ll be seeing what should be a GREAT concert.
– It’s Toby Mac, Skillet, and House Of Heroes.

– All three acts rock my face off !
– I’m seeing them over at the Germain Arena between Naples and Fort Myers.
– I’m actually driving over to Naples early in the morning next Friday.
– I plan to spend the entire day over there and visit various places.
– The Naples Zoo and the Collier County Museum are on my short list.
– I’m also spending the night over there following the concert.
– I thought about driving back home after the show, but then I reconsidered.
– It’d be a 2½-hour drive in the dark across Alligator Alley (I-75).
– I’m not into that.
– I’d rather relax in a hotel room and get a good night’s sleep.
– And then the next morning I can see more of Naples before I head home.
– It’ll be like a short little vacation for me.
– I want to do those at least once a month.
– I’m already planning a nice little road trip for a later weekend in April.
– It’s fun to get out on that open road and visit places and see things.
– I used to do it far more often back in the day.
– Homestead Air Reserve Base reopened 16 years ago this weekend.
– That’s when I moved back down here to Homestead after a 19-month hiatus.
– If I had to do it all over again then I’d do it all over again.
– It’s straight-up and down six o’clock in the evening as I type this.
– That means that Life Group is just an hour away.
– Life Group has been the crown jewel of my work week in 2010.
– I get excited about it every week.
– It’s fellowship done right.
– Have a great night my friends.
– Celebrate Life !

Categories
God Holidays Life Music

My Fantastic Journey: It’s In The Lyrics

You know even when you follow, believe, trust, and love Jesus Christ above every one and every thing – you’re still going to have days that just don’t go your way. You can call them ‘bad days’ if you wish, but never forget that you’re not alone. God is with you always and forever. He sees it all  – the good, the bad, and the downright ugly.

Just because you’re living a new Life – separate and distinct from your previous life – it does not mean that all of the bad things went away the moment that you stepped away from your old ways of the world. You’re still human, and you still have the problems that normal humans have. It’s how you react to those problems that sets you into motion and defines how you Live your new Life. 

There is always one nucleus to every solution to every problem. That nucleus is our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. If you believe. If you trust.

In honour of Saint Patrick’s Day I present to you Christian Rocker Kevin Max. Here he is with an “Irish Hymn” on this very special day where everyone can be Irish simply by wearing the green !

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Career Computers Driving God Holidays Nature Travel

Tuesday Night Grab Bag O’ Thoughts

I do hereby declare the start of another fresh new week of blogging !

I.  This Old Car – My 2003 Saturn is aging, and while it may not look very old on the outside and on the inside (due to recent professional cleaning and detailing) it is starting to act its age. It’s starting to sound and feel at times like an old man – making strange sounds occasionally. It’s pushing 67,000 miles, and this June it will mark 7 years in operation. It’s the 2ND longest period of time that I’ve owned a single car – 2ND only to my 1989 Geo Spectrum that I drove around in for 8 years and 3 months from 1989 to 1997. Well it’s really cool and everything to drive around in a car that’s fully paid off and completely mine, but now that it’s getting older it has to be taken care of on a regular basis – more so now than ever before. Yesterday morning I took my car to the local Chevy (GM) dealership here in Homestead (since Saturn dealers don’t exist anymore), and I expected to be there for perhaps 3 hours and maybe spend around $100 in needed maintenance. Those 3 hours turned out to be 5 hours, and it cost $867.91 to get my car thoroughly tuned-up to where it should be. Now it seems to sound and feel like a kid again. I’ll be keeping this old car for awhile. With a little bit of tender loving care it will hopefully continue to purr along on the road.

II.  Have Road Will Travel – Looking ahead at my planned vacation schedule for 2010 I’ve got at least 3 trips to the Dallas Texas area planned for May, July, and November to visit my family. I’ve also got a 7-day Carnival cruise to look forward to in September. I also think that I’m gonna visit the Orlando area for a long weekend in June. I haven’t been up there on vacation (non church business) since 2006 (before the fantastic journey began). I also wish to take a few days (maybe in April) and discover a broad section of the southeast coast of Florida that I’ve never experienced before. It’s known as The Treasure Coast, and it includes the cities (south to north) of West Palm Beach, Riviera Beach, Juno Beach, Jupiter, Tequesta, Stuart, Jensen Beach, Port St. Lucie, Fort Pierce, and Vero Beach. I basically want to drive the 80 miles or so from south to north only on U.S. 1 and State Road A1A, and simply stop along the way at the various places that look interesting to me. I’d do it over 2 or 3 days and really explore the region. I may even combine it with a trip around the Big Lake Okeechobee. I miss doing exploration road trips like that. It’s time to get back on the road again and enjoy God’s Creations along the way.

III.  I Am Not A Computer Expert – I have never claimed to be a computer expert, and I have never demonstrated any notion of being a computer expert. (Some people may disagree with that.) Nevertheless the impression that some people get (for whatever reason) is that I am some sort of genius at fixing computers. Here’s the real deal. If I actually knew how to physically fix a computer then I would not be dealing with my current computer systems at home. I’d fix them. I’d upgrade them. When a computer at home crashes I do what a lot of sensible people do. I set it aside and go out and buy a brand new one. Do I know how to use a computer ?  Sure – I’ve been using personal computers for a little over 17 years now. I used Hurricane Andrew relocation money to help me buy my very first computer system (a 486SX) towards the end of 1992. I’ve gone through a lot of computer systems since then. I’ve never fixed any of them. I’ve bought new ones to replace broken ones. It makes more sense for me to do that. I’m mechanically challenged – and that includes computers. What’s my current job at work ?  I manage resources. That includes (but is not limited to) computers, databases, and finances. I provide guidance on computers, but I do not buy them or fix them. I’m responsible for information that gets input into databases as well as the output based on that data, but I do not put any of the data in myself. I’m responsible for the effective and efficient spending of money, but I do not spend any of the money myself. I’m your classic liaison. I hope that clears everything up for everyone.

Be sure to check out my ‘Thursday Night Mini Thoughts’ later this week. I’m sure that I’ll find something new to rant and rave on, but please keep this in mind at all times – I’m a lover not a fighter. I heard that one !

Categories
Career Driving God History Home Life Music People Radio Travel

Thursday Night Mini Thoughts

– Let’s get spontaneous.
– Let’s not hold nothin’ back.
– Can we talk here ?
– Miami has an all-new Christian music radio station !
– I discovered it for the first time this afternoon at work.
– It’s Life-FM at 90.9, and it’s a powerful 100,000 watt station.
– I think their transmitter is right alongside the 18-Mile Stretch.
– That means that you get a clear and rich signal here in Homestead.
– Life-FM is Christian music for my age range and older.
– Its secular equivalent would be hot adult contemporary.
– I may be approaching 43-years-old, but I still like to rock my face off.
– That’s why I’ll also continue to listen to Call-FM at 91.9.
– My favourite radio deejay in the entire world works there !
– Driving here in America’s Riviera is always very challenging.
– We drive over 80 different ways here.
– That’s because we learned how to drive in over 80 different countries.
– The single problem that annoys me the most is tailgating.
– It’s also the most dangerous problem.
– I get tailgated virtually every day to and from work by multiple drivers.
– I generally slow down when a tailgater is at work.
– If the speed limit is 40, and I’m going 48 I’ll slow down to 42 for a tailgater.
– I do it for my own safety.
– If I have to slam on my brakes for whatever reason then I may be toast.
– I’d rather be that much closer to 0 MPH in the event that I have to brake.
– Tailgating should be a crime right up there with drunk driving.
– I’ve seen police cars tailgate – and also be tailgated !
– It’s a chronic problem down here.
– I appreciate those peaceful, quiet, and uneventful drives here in paradise.
– But they are way too rare.
– This is a multi-anniversary month for me.
– Celebrate Good Times Come On !
– 19 years ago I returned home from Operation Desert Storm.
– 17 years ago I started my post-military civilian life in Melbourne Florida.
– 16 years ago Homestead Air Reserve Base reopened for business.
– All of our F-16 ‘Fighter Falcons’ returned home, and so did I.
– It’s good to celebrate 16 years here in Homestead.
– That’s in addition to the nearly 5 years that I was here before Andrew.
– Homestead has been my home in 4 decades since the late-1980s.
– I belong here.
– I have a purpose here.
– If I didn’t belong here, and I had no purpose – then I’d move away.
– I’ll be here for as long as God wants me to be here.