A Little Help From My Friends...

Maybe you remember the old Beatles song, or if you're like me you're more likely to remember the version sung by Joe Cocker and used in the opening scenes of The Wonder Years, a television series from an era where all that mattered was what your siblings were up to, who your love of a lifetime was since gradeschool, and how much your parents didn't seem to understand you but turned out to understand you better than you understood yourself.  I know I've already done a blog about flashbacks, so that's not what this is.  What it is really about is knowing about your true friends.  I don't really keep in contact that much with the people I grew up with, but I blame that on moving around constantly while growing up.  There are a few people out there I've reconnected with through Facebook, but I can't say the relationship is the same as it was way back when.  I remember a line from a Bon Jovi song, "if I got that call in the middle of the night I'd be right by your side...", to me that's what friendship is all about.  You have to be willing to be there for the other person no matter what happens.  I know in my life right now I have a few people I can really count on, and one great big God I can always count on.  Of course one of the people is my lovely wife, who is also my best friend and fits everything I always imagined a best friend and wife could be!  I am so blessed to have her in my life.  Besides her I can count on one hand the people I know I can really count on like in the song.  Some people say that's a shame, but I feel blessed to have that many!  It takes me a while to form lasting friendships and I can honestly say that I would be there for any of them if they ever needed me.

A Day At The Beach!

Today my lovely wife and I took a short road trip to the wonderful not so far away land that is generally known to everyone here as Ocean Shores.  It's nothing like the beaches of Florida, the water is cold, usually it's cloudy (but today it was sunny and probably around 70 degrees), and not many people are laying around on towels soaking up rays and applying sunscreen.  No, when we go it's not for any of those reasons anyway.  We go solely for the beauty of the water, the sound of crashing waves, catching glimpses of wildlife such as harbor seals, pelicans, deer (not in the ocean of course, but on the way there), and occasionally a dolphin or two, and to take short walks on the beach sometimes recovering sand dollars and seashells, and our most favorite thing in the world to do when we go: we sit on the rocks at the jetty sometimes enjoying a picnic lunch, and having an intimate conversation.  We did that today and it felt great!  We almost always have a feeling of peace and renewal of strength when we come back from Ocean Shores, so we usually try to make the trip at least once or twice a month.  It's about a two to two and a half hour drive each way, but oh so worth it.  Often we will bring a Bible with us, or a Bible study or devotional, and sing hymns as we sit together on the jetty watching, listening, and just enjoying God's creation all around us.  It feels like a chance to reconnect with God, each other, and forget about everything else for a while.  I think everyone needs a place like that. 

When it comes to sharing your faith, leave it to God to show you the way!

During my deployment last year to Iraq we were instructed that we could not try to share our faith on purpose with anyone due to the strictness of the Muslim religion.  A part of service tonight reminded me of this because our pastor (using the latest advances in technology) had people text barriers we face in telling others about Jesus and displayed them on the overhead monitors during service.  One that popped up a few times were from high schoolers saying they are told they're not allowed to discuss their faith at school.  A member of the congregation got up at the end of service and assured them this was not true.  He said under our first amendment rights students have every right to share their faith, the only thing the school can do is stop teachers from sharing theirs and teachers who are believers love it when their kids in their classes force them to answer questions about faith because once the door is opened they pretty much have to respond.

Our first amendment wouldn't help me in Iraq because we were in their country, so I'm not trying to say I felt my rights were violated at all.  But a very cool thing came about because of that.  I realized that our chaplain in Iraq would leave religious materials out all the time at the recreation center we had on our FOB.  That's not proselityzing because you're not forcing anything on anybody, it's their choice to pick it up or not.  The FOB I was on didn't have much in the way of music or movies people could buy so any that came in the mail addressed to any soldier or the MWR (morale, welfare, and recreation) were immediately swooped up by American soldiers, Ugandan soldiers, Iraqi Army, and local national truck drivers. God gave me inspiration at that moment and I immediately started emailing every Christian band I could think of asking if they could send any music or dvd's to give out.  I got moved around from FOB to FOB for a while after that, but eventually I made it back to that one and found I had a package waiting for me that was being used as a doorstop.  Upon opening it it turned out to be stuffed with cd's, dvd's, and buttons proclaiming Jesus is Lord, I Heart God, and keychains from Casting Crowns. Inside was a signed card from the whole band wishing me well, along with autographed cd's and dvd's.  I was in shock, our God is so great! I had pretty much given up when I got moved around and thought that my emails never probably even made it to anyone who could do anything.  I think the point of this story is that even when somebody tries to tell you that you can't share your faith, don't believe them, God will show you the way!

Stooped Peeple

Okay I know the title is mispelled, but it's supposed to represent the people this original, soon to hopefully be released on youtube, sung by me in a hopefully funny voice, song that will highlight the behaviors of certain people we all run into on any given day.  It's not meant to be offensive or crude, just trying to make light of situations that cause some of us stress.

Stooped Peeple!

This is a little song I wrote
Maybe about the guy pulling his boat
Driving ten miles an hour down a two lane road
When the speed limit is forty five

Or maybe the gal who cut you off
What in the world was she thinking of
Writing a note on the steering wheel
When the light has already changed and she needs to drive

Or it could be the guy in the WalMart self checkout lane
With two carts full of groceries and parts for an airplane
I could find another line, but I'd rather complain
I thought self checkout was like the fast lane

But that's another story all together
Slow people in the fast lane are like bad weather
You think that it won't stick around too long
But you usually end up being wrong

Or what about the ones who jump in front of line
"just to ask one question, I hope you don't mind"
I've been waiting here since the beginning of time
So what are you, out of your mind?

Oh you just can't beat them
Stooped Peeple
You're always gonna meet them
Stooped Peeple
And when your patience is gone
You're always going to find one
Ohhhhhh, Stooped Peeple

You'll always find one riding a wave
In the middle of a hurricane
Some people you just can't save
They just don't know how to behave

This song could go on forever
Stooped Peeple aren't that clever
They would never comprehend
If you just sang it once again

Oh you just can't beat them
Stooped Peeple
You're always gonna meet them
Stooped Peeple
And when your patience is gone
You're always going to find one
Ohhhhhh, Stooped Peeple

Okay, maybe it will make it to youtube, maybe it won't, and if it's sung by me I won't be showing my face.  Maybe Jeff Foxworthy, or Larry the Cable Guy, Bill Engvall or somebody along that genre would love to take it from here for me.  Let's start  one of those things where people are all talking about that one guy who wrote that crazy song and made it big on youtube, oh yeah it's called going viral, sorry I had a stooped moment!

Hurricanes, Earthquakes, the mad dog of the mideast, and Blood Red Lakes

Recently we've had a lot of things happening relatively close together.  Another madman regime is seemingly brought to it's knees, a giant hurricane is barreling toward the east coast of the United States, earthquakes have occured in the same area, and not too long ago I saw a story on Yahoo about a lake in Texas that had turned "blood" red.  There's always a lot of talk about it being the end times when stuff like this happens, but the Bible I read says we will not know the day the end comes, that is only for God to know.  Ghadafi is gone and I think that's great, but I'm not so sure they should be celebrating until it's clear that he's caught and will return no more.  I think a lot of people in Iraq  were skeptical until we caught Saddam and brought him to trial.  The hurricane that is coming to our east coast is being hyped on the news as the worst storm ever that the east coast has had to face because the area it's headed for hasn't seen a hurricane like that for quite some time.  I remember living in Florida for a few years and everytime a hurricane was coming it was huge news, the media would play it up like it was the end of the world and by the time it actually hit, if it did hit, it did little to no damage.  I'm not saying that is the case with this one, but I do think the media loves to stir up a frenzy when it comes to danger.  I would have thought the earthquakes would have been taken more seriously, one of my friends from high school joked on facebook "I'm sorry everybody, I left my phone on vibrate."  He and I were in high school in Seaside California when a 7.1 earthquake hit San Francisco, so I know he really knows it's no joke, but it seems like a lot of people in that area didn't really worry too much about it.  A lady I saw on the news was being asked by a reporter what she thought when the earthquake hit and her response was "really, we had an earthquake?  I was just shopping in Macy's and I didn't notice."  And as for that lake that turned "blood" red, well it actually turned out it was mud red.  It was either due to the color of the clay underneath the lake, or some chemical all the dead fish put off.  (The fish died due to the heat wave and lack of water in the lake.)  So is it the end times?  I don't think so, but in all honesty, I can't really answer that, only God can.

Do You Care What I Think About You?

It's been brought to my attention that I'm what's known as a people pleaser.  I am happy when I'm able to make others around me happy.  But where does it ever end once you go down that road?  Who gets priority when the things people want clash with one another?  I've discovered it's not about really pleasing people, although that can fit in once in a while.  What it's really about is pleasing God, and yes that does involve pleasing people sometimes, but not always.  Sometimes people may question why we do what we do.  I'm sure people questioned Noah when he was building a huge boat in the middle of the desert that hadn't seen a drop of rain in quite some time.  I'm sure Joshua's people thought him to be a little out there when he told them all they had to do was walk around Jericho for seven days and the walls would crumble down so they could enter their promised land!  I don't know if anything I will do or have done will ever compare to those things, but I know God has a purpose for everything He has us do.  We started the process of foster care a few months ago and I believe we've gotten some of the same looks from people like I imagine Noah and Joshua got.  I know some people get it and others don't, but the One that really matters most of all definitely understands especially since He's the one who put it on our hearts!

Children at Church

Our pastor had a great message today!  He was preaching about a passage that appears in all four of the gospels where Jesus is instructing us to be as children when we go to God.  I thought he (the pastor) made a good point when he pointed out that so often we dismiss children from church to either go to the nursery or children's church, when in all actuality we should keep them with us in service if possible.  What better way for them to learn than to hear the same lesson as we do and ask questions about it?  Sure they should wait until after service to ask us and not interrupt the pastor, but wouldn't that be great?  For one thing, we would have to pay a lot closer attention to what is being said.  How can we answer questions if we weren't giving it a hundred percent of our attention in the first place?  Also it may help us to learn the Word even more because if we don't know the answer we would have to try to find out as well so we could give them a good answer! 

The pastor also mentioned how quick we are to say "if that was my kid..." given different situations.  For example a baby starts to cry during service, we might whisper to our spouse "if that were our kid we'd just go to the cry room!" instead of thinking about how we might minister to that mom or dad in that situation.   In reality you never know where the parents are coming from.   Maybe they just returned from the cancer ward with one of their parents in a terrible situation, or maybe they just lost their job.  Maybe they didn't teach their kids respect, but you never know.  The point is that it is all of our jobs to look after children.  We need to be praying for them that they will grow up knowing all about God, so that one day they can lead others to Him as well.  We need to make it our responsibility to ensure they know about Him.

There are so many directions you can take with this one simple message.  God wants us to come to Him as children.  Just like we know what our kids need or want, we still like to hear them ask for it.  God wants the same thing, that's what prayer is.  Another thing we heard today during the sermon is that on average children laugh 400 times per day.  Do you know how we adults compare?  Only about 15 laughs per day.  It's been said that laughter is the best medicine, maybe that's why adults seem to get sicker more often, we haven't been taking our medicine. 

Bull Riding in a Bear Market

Okay, I don't really know much about the stock market, and I know even less about bull riding, but I do know this: if you don't know what you're doing in either one and you try to do it without any kind of training or schooling, you are going to get hurt!  I know they both have their ups and downs, I know that in both cases the greatest risks can either result in the greatest losses or the greatest rewards!  I also know this:  every bull rider I've seen has fallen off at one time or another, but they always get back up and live to ride again!  No matter what the doomsayers out there are trying to tell you, our stock market will recover.  We may have lost our AAA rating, but so what?  I'm probably about as far away from a triple A credit rating as I can be and I managed to buy a house and get financed on two fairly new vehicles. I may never ride a bull or even invest in the stock market, but if I do either I know that God will be there with me because I will seek Him first when I go looking for answers. 

You Always Hurt The Ones You Love

God showed me today that I can be very insensitive and I frequently speak without thinking about how my words may be conceived by those around me when I took the time to think about how my words sounded.  I recently had surgery on my right wrist for carpal tunnel syndrome, so my doctor's orders were to rest and recover.  I've been doing my best to stick to that, but there are times I just want to help out and kind of forget that I'm not supposed to be not doing too much.  I then admitted to some friends that I've overdone it a few times since my surgery, but I didn't think about how that might make my lovely wife look.  It came across as if she were making me do too much, but really it's my insistence that I take on everything I normally would just to prove I still can and I'm not an invalid.  I really am blessed with a very wonderful, loving, caring, thoughtful wife, who insists I rest and not do too much.  My stubborness usually gets in the way of this and ends up making things worse.  I think it's about time I really listened to her and to my doctor because I'm starting to realize why I've been told to rest and recover.  It really hurts!  My wrist needs time to heal and get better and I need to show my wife how much I really appreciate her and how well she takes care of me!  Who else would be so awesome as to let me get Pizza Hut for dinner the night of my surgery, and then Godfather's pizza buffet the next day for lunch?  Thank you honey for being so wonderful and really taking care of me!  I'm sorry I've been a horrible patient!

This is dedicated to the one I love!

I just thought I might write another blog about how wonderful my beautiful wife is.  She is such a sweet person, who always puts others ahead of herself.  She inspires me to be a better husband and a better person! We've been married for 14 years and she still takes such good care of me.  She is the rock of our relationship making sure that we stay close and keep our relationship as fresh and new as when we started dating.  I am truly blessed to have such a wonderful woman as my wife and just thought that I could share that with everyone! She makes sure I match when I wear clothes other than an Army uniform, she keeps me on time for all of my appointments, and encourages me when I'm having a rough day.  I don't know what I would ever do without her. 

Great customer service from Bama at Bruce Titus Nissan in Olympia

We decided it was time to get another vehicle and we foolishly went somewhere other than where we bought our Altima a few months ago.  We thought we could stay close to home since there's a saying here "cars cost less in Puyallup!"  We looked at a few dealerships and decided to try for a minivan at Larson Chrysler Dodge and Jeep.  We talked to Charlie and Paul and they seemed like great guys who wanted to get us a great car.  We were going to trade in our 2003 Chrysler Voyager with a little over 118,000 miles on it for another used minivan with preferably less than 50,000 miles.  We were aiming to stay under $400 for a monthly payment with $1,000 down and our trade (which we still owed about $5,500 for).  Charlie said he loved dealing with military folks and making them the best deals and he would get us in a car and we would always want to buy our cars from him in the future.  We found a minivan we liked and the deal he offered us was $2,500 down, with payments of $470 a month.  That didn't work for us so he said he would keep working the deal and call us the next day.  The next day I called him shortly after 1pm and left a message.  He called back and said they couldn't help us with a used vehicle but could get us in a new vehicle with our thousand down and $470 a month.  We went to the dealership, test drove the new minivan, loved it, came back and waited to find out about financing.  All of a sudden we became Charlie's last priority.  Other people came in and he told them they would only want to buy cars from him.  We waited about an hour, still got no response from Charlie, or even Paul.  When we tracked him down he said he would call us when he had an answer and we could just go home, so we did.  I called a couple of hours later and told Charlie we would never buy a car from him.  While we were waiting for an answer from Charlie we decided it might be a good idea to call the guy we bought our Altima from a few months ago, good old Bama from Bruce Titus Nissan in Olympia.  Bama is of course a nickname short for Alabama because that's where he's from.  Crimson Tide is plastered all over his desk at the dealership along with a neon sign of his nickname.  He said he remembered us and would love to help us find a van or three row seated vehicle that would be perfect for us, so we made an appointment to see him a couple of days later.  Just as before, when we showed up we were greeted with a very friendly hello and were immediately shown some of the vehicles that he found for us on the lot.  We tried a Dodge Journey first.  Not bad, but not quite what we were looking for.  Then we moved on to a Chrysler Town and Country, but it had a lot of miles for the year it was made.  We then mentioned that we really loved our Altima and wondered if he might have a Quest available or another Japanese made car since they seem to last longer.  After some research on his computer he asked if we wanted to take a ride to Tacoma with him because their lot had a Nissan Quest with around 46,000 miles on it.  It was the beginning of rush hour and Olympia to Tacoma is a pretty good distance, but we were willing to take the trip.  We made it in under an hour, saw the van and knew it was exactly what we had been looking for.  We got to drive it all the way back to Olympia, a very smooth ride and so many cool features in it too.  There's a drop down dvd player for the rear passengers, air conditioning and heating controls for the rear seats, drop down rear seats that fold into the floor, airbags in all three rows of seats and a lot of other cool stuff as well.  When we got back to Olympia Bama really wanted to get the minivan detailed since it hadn't been cleaned yet so he offered us a loaner vehicle until we could make it back.  The next day we picked up our new van (Bama came in on his day off to make sure we were satisfied with the detailing).  I can't go on enough about the difference between the two dealerships.  Olympia may be a little far, but if I'm ever in the market for another car I will only buy from Bama, he works really hard for his customers and will take his time with you.  He seriously would let you test drive every car on the lot if you wanted to.  Oh yeah, another customer came in asking for Bama while he was helping us and he asked another salesman to help the customer since he was helping us, way better than Charlie!  So if you're in the market for a new or used car, I suggest you see our friend Bama (his real name is Kevin Pederson, but if you ask for Bama everybody knows who you mean), and mention we sent you his way, I'm sure he'll cut you a great deal!

Applebee's: There's No Place Like The Neighborhood!

I took my wife out to dinner a couple of nights ago to our local Applebee's.  We've eaten there many times and have up until this visit had wonderful service and outstanding food quality.  Usually there's a manager walking around asking everybody if everything is tasting okay or if there's anything he or she (there's been a couple) can do to improve our dining experience.  This time was different though.  It was very busy, but our server Jaime did an excellent job checking up on all of his customers, keeping drinks filled, and making sure everything was okay.  My wife ordered the riblet/chicken platter and I ordered a bacon cheeseburger.  When our food arrived it looked AWESOME!  My wife started eating and enjoying her meal as I turned my burger over to remove the toothpick and discard all the healthy stuff (you know, the tomatoes and lettuce) and douse the burger with some ketchup.  This is where the problem started.  I noticed there was mold all over the bottom portion of my bun.  So the next time Jaime came by I asked to see a manager.  I told him he was a great server it was nothing about him (I didn't expect him to pick up my burger and look underneath), I just wanted to inform the manager so she could let the kitchen staff know to check their stock and get me a burger without mold.  She came back within a minute with another burger, informed me she stole somebody else's burger and they could just wait a few more minutes, and told me it was just overly hot in the storeroom where they keep the buns.  I said it's not a problem, I just didn't want anybody getting sick and thought they might like to know so they could check their inventory or at least have the people in the kitchen keeping an eye out.  I work in food service and I don't like people who just holler and complain and expect you to make their world a better place by letting them vent their frustrations on you.  So even though she seemed to dismiss it as a farce, I just let it go.  Jaime brought us our check and it really confused me.  I was expecting to pay for mine and my wife's meal, no problem, because they fixed the mistake.  But as I looked over the receipt it showed my burger being charged and then taken off, but when I added up the total of what that should have been it didn't add up.  Even though the receipt made it look like my burger was free I was still being charged for it.  Again I asked Jaime if I could speak to the manager (who I found out through my wife asking the hostess that her name is Desiree.)  When she arrived she said it was a mistake and they would take care of it, they really weren't trying to charge me for the burger, but they had already run my debit card, but not to worry they could still pull it back and refund my card.  I said okay, thank you.  Then they brought me a new bill to pay but didn't bring proof that the other had been reversed.  I couldn't believe it, so again I asked Jaime if Desiree would mind bringing us a copy of the cancellation.  Like I said, I hate being one of those people in a restaurant so I never once got mad, demanded anything for free, or created a scene.  Finally they brought a copy showing me a duplicate bill of the first one, not a cancellation!  So again I asked Desiree to please show me something so I know I'm not getting charged twice for our meal.  Eventually she finally brought out a copy of something resembling what I wanted and we were able to leave the restaurant.  I really like Applebee's,  the whole thing was just very frustrating.  The service has always been great, this is the first time the food has been messed up, but I can't bring myself to stop thinking that she didn't even tell anyone in the back, she just grabbed me another burger.  I hope nobody else got moldy bread and didn't notice it, if I hadn't of turned mine over first (which I usually don't) I would have eaten it.  Ewww!

To The One I Love With All My Heart

To the one I love with all my heart
You've been beside me from the start
As life goes on and years go by
Our love grows stronger I can't deny

You are the only one for me
The one who's love I can't live without
You bring a sweet peace to my soul
And your love conquers any doubt

We were meant to be together
From the day we met to the end of time
We were meant to love each other
As we work our way through this life

This blog is dedicated to the woman who is always there for me when I need her, I know I can always count on her to get me through anything.  Sweetie, you are amazing and I am truly blessed to be your husband!  Thank you for being you and for always taking such great care of me!

Dumb and Crazy Warnings

Okay, let's face it, people do dumb things.  You know they do dumb things by some of the warning labels we see on products these days.  I stumbled across a few good ones and thought I would share them with you.  On Arm and Hammer Cat Litter it actually says "safe to use around pets", well I would hope so!  On a box of sleeping pills "warning, may cause drowsiness".  On a television remote control "Not dishwasher safe", oh man, I wanted to clean up what I was watching!  On a superman costume "wearing this does not enable you to fly", I wonder who found that out the hard way?  I know that there are many more crazy ones out there.  I've thought of some of my own based on where I work and what people have done, because you know that's the reason those crazy warnings are on there, somebody has actually done it!  I work in a dining facility for the army so here's some of mine: "Ensure you pour liquid eggs out of bag before placing on grill".  "Do not cut plastic off of milk bib until pincher is in place".  "Do not thaw bag of hamburger buns in oven".  "Take hot dogs out of plastic before placing in steamer".  "Find a hotel for your mother to stay in before you fly her to the states and make her share your barracks room."  And most importantly: "Please wash hands before leaving restroom!"