Wednesday, July 23, 2008

The Art of Encouragement


A shameless plug, if you'll indulge me. Amber, over at the run-a-muck is a wonderful lady that I only e-know, but she has managed to make me blush from ear to ear. This is a quote from her most recent post:

Something else: There are these super cool guys who review films, and they L-O-V-E Jesus in that cussy kind of I've-been-in-the-pit sort of way. They're complete strangers to me, though friends of some of my friends, and they're my brothers. Has a movie review ever made you cry? Or has a review made you laugh until you slobbered on your keyboard and made the f stop working for a while? I'm not kidding, more than movies, you get what you feel are pieces of the writers that can only come out when art moves them out - as if a piece of art tangles into the brain near where we keep secrets, so to speak of the art is to tell of ghosts, what we saw as children out of the corner of our eye, or of deep, hard crushes and that wind that caught your breath the first time you realized God, those things that only art could shove out into the seeing/hearing world. Go here: Three Hands in the Popcorn Bag.

How's that for a compliment? Made my month.

Sunday, July 13, 2008

The Skinny (In More Ways Than One)


I have this group of friends that sits around and discusses working out. No, they're not super-jocks or meatheads or anything, they just like to stay in shape. So when we all get together, there's always talk of "have you seen this new workout site?" or "I managed 40 reps last night." I, being a superiorly trained doughboy, usually have nothing to add to this conversation. Until now. Behold, the landscapers diet! Push a fertilizer spreader, sling 50 pound bags of granular weedkiller, spread mulch in 90+ degrees (with no AC in the truck), all for 10 or more hours a day! You too will lose weight at an alarming pace!

Yesterday, I stepped on the scale and it read 202. I haven't been this close to a weight with a 1 in the front in many, many years. I think I'll be there by next weekend.

Problem is, after next weekend, the landscaper's diet goes away. Next Sunday, our church votes on me as the new (title to be determined) tech and facilities guy. Assuming that there's no general undercurrent of dislike against me, the vote shouldn't be an issue. So I will be working in an air conditioned office, sitting on my rear all day. Bye bye 100s...

Anyway, back to the job. When we sold our business back in March, I figured it wouldn't take too long to find something new. I was wrong. First, I was supposed to go work for my dad's company. That didn't fly. So I applied and applied. I applied for things that I was eminently qualified for and i applied for long shots. I got exactly one interview in three months. So, my friend Jason had mercy on me and hired me to work for his landscaping company. And it's been a blast, really. It's been totally out of my comfort zone and completely good for me.

Before going to work for Jason, I met with our pastor at Bojangles, just for some career advice. He said he'd pray for us and the direction we were supposed to go. Turns out, unbeknownst to me, later that day or the next, the tech guy at Providence told Chad he would be leaving in a few weeks. A few elder meetings and some prayer later and here we are. It's pretty amazing how God answers prayer by closing door after door. Eventually the right one opens.

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Over there -->

Zip over to THREE HANDS IN THE POPCORN BAG. I've got a new review of WALL-E up there...