Dry Skin.

Somewhere between the first of October and sometime either in April or May I have what I call my dry skin season. My hands dry out and fingers start to crack and split open. Sometimes,no actually most of the time it is very painful. The cracks and splits are at the most in-opportune places all the time. On the side, in the middle of my index finger. Makes it hard to put on my socks and shoes, and then to tie them, oh my! The corners of my thumbs, right by the nail. The tops of my pinky knuckle. I'm talking deep splits when straight, and then if you bend your finger it gets even worse. Mine get so bad that they will even start to bleed. Yeah, I love this season. So I am very thankful that God has used people to create lotions, or skin softeners, to help with this problem area. So I usually apply it right before I lay down for bed. I lather up pretty good, and the start to rub it in. And then the stinging starts, when the lotion gets into the cracks. Stinging and burning. Not pleasant at all. I'm like "what did I do?" Then guess what? How do I make it stop? I start to pray! Now you may think that it is silly to pray for this but, nothing is to small or to big for God right. So as I lay there, my fingers and hands stinging like crazy, I pray! I pray for God to help my hands to stop from stinging and burning. For them to be healed from the cracks and splitting over night. To feel much better the next morning. You know what? They do, because He does. He hears my prayer, and within a couple of minutes the stinging and burning go away. I am able to fall asleep. (Thank You LORD) The next morning they do feel much better. Not completely healed, but much better none the less. I am thankful that my God doesn't just focus and act on the big time prayers. He hears the small ones too. They all matter to Him! All the praise and glory to Jesus, Amen!!

2016!

2016. Wow, what a year. As I sit here on this New Years Eve and look back, I know a lot of people are ready for it to be over. To much negativity and issues. So many people being offended by everything and everyone. Yes, this has been a strange year. Take the election for example. A lot of people are upset over who won. All I know is that no matter what, God is still in control. Jesus is still the Lord of Lord's and King of King's, no matter who is in office. There have been a slew of celebrity deaths this year. Yes it is sad that people that we have watched on t.v. or in movies, or listened to their music have passed, but what about all the police officers, firefighters and soldiers that have died as well. They have died doing their job. Protecting us and trying to keep us safe. All everyone wants to focus on is the negative. Well, I want to focus on the positive side of 2016. God blessed me with another trip around the sun to celebrate my 49th birthday. My wife and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary. Our daughter graduated high school and started her freshman year of college. She has been able to drive home three times with a car that has well over 230,000 miles on it, with no issues. Each trip is 500 miles one way and 8 hours long. We thank God that she has such a reliable car. Both my wife and I were able to stay gainfully employed. We were able to pay all of our bills and on time. We were able to take a family vacation this summer to the west coast, where I was able to preach at my father in laws church. My credentials were renewed for 2017. I give God all the thanks for that. I give God all the thanks for everything. We have had some health issues in the family this year. Some hospital stays, broken bones and surgeries, but with God's mighty healing hand and the power of prayer, He brought everyone through. We were able to volunteer and give back to our community more than ever this year. Help some people out. God has really blessed us this year, and I am going to focus on that. If you look for the negative, you'll find it. I am looking for the positive's and blessings and focusing on what God has done this year. Looking forward to seeing what He has in store for us in 2017. I am expecting great and mighty things. All praise and glory to my God! AMEN!!

Christmas Present.

I ordered a Christmas gift online the other day that I needed for our family Christmas party on Saturday. I thought that I ordered it in plenty of time to get it before the party. Then I got the email, stating that the estimated time of delivery would be between 12/16 - 12/19. I'm like "what?" I need it at least by the 17th. So if it came on the 16th or 17th, I would be good. I started tracking the package the very next day. The website updated, now saying it would deliver on the 19th. No good. Not cool Robert Frost! It would say things like, in route from here to there. In transit, blah, blah, blah. Still saying the 19th. Then on Friday it says that it is in route to the Sycamore post office. I'm like "sweet, I'll just go pick it up before they deliver it." I go over to the post office and inquire about picking up said package. The clerk proceeds to tell me that they have received in four pallets of packages that they have not gone through yet. If I wanted too, I could call them before 9:00 the next morning and if it was there, they would hold it for me. I woke up around 8:30ish and debated whether or not I should call. I decided not to as I remembered what the clerk said the day before, about how busy they were. I didn't want to bother them, so I didn't. I decided to put into Gods hands. I would trust that if He wanted it to be delivered on Saturday, it would be. I went back to the tracking website and to my surprise it said that it was out for delivery. Delivery on the 16th. Praise God! He came through once again, like always. I went out to our mailbox a little while later that day and viola, it was there. Hallelujah. Brought it in the house, wrapped it, and took it to the party and gave it to the person whom it was supposed to go to. All the time I am thinking, that if I can trust God for something as small as this, waiting for a package to deliver on a specific day, how much more can I trust Him with everything else! God is into details, big or small, and I thank Him for that!

BLESSED ASSURANCE.

Blessed Assurance, the song. I've heard it hundreds of times. The Third Day version is my favorite. Although our church worship group does a fairly decent job as well. This past weekend I happened to hear it twice. Once on the radio and then at a funeral my wife and I attended. When I heard it the second time, I knew that God wanted me to learn something,to tell me something. That's how He operates with me. When He brings the same thing repeatedly two or more times He's trying to get my attention. Doesn't matter if it's a Bible verse. A song. A message I heard on the radio or t.v. If I hear or see the same thing multiple times, that's my que. from God. So the song 'Blessed Assurance', what is He trying to tell me? That I am blessed? I am assured of my salvation and that I am going to heaven? I don't have to doubt any of that. Not that I do. Does He want me to share my story, and my song? To continually praise Him all day long? What? What could it be? I dreamt about this song on Sunday night, while waking up Monday morning singing it out loud. What are You trying to say LORD. What do You want me to get out of this? Give me Your eyes and ears to see and hear with. I want Your blessed assurance. I will continue to praise Him, till I get an answer! And answer He will!

OPINIONS!

Opinions. Opinions are like 'bungholes', everybody has one. I think that the Cardinals are better than the Cubs. The Packers are better than the Bears. The Blackhawks are better than the Redwings. These are just a few of my opinions, and I'm sure some of you may have different ones. You know what? I don't care if your opinion differs from mine. If we all had the same opinions on everything,how boring would that be? Just because you believe different than me doesn't mean I hate you. I am not going to go and start a fight with you. Not going to burn down your house, or vandalize your car. I respect your opinion, and we can agree to disagree. I don't what happened to make everybody get all offended if you had a differing view from theirs. If I don't like a certain thing, all of a sudden I am a racist. Or a hypocrite. Why can't we just all understand that not everyone is going to agree with you, and I'm alright with that. And that's just my opinion.

Feeling Thankful.

As we prepare to enter Thanksgiving week, I am remembering everything that I am and have been thankful for. First of all I want to thank God for the gift of life. To be able to live and breathe everyday,to be able to open my eyes and get out of bed every morning is something that I don't take for granted. I am thankful for the family that I was born into. I love them all to death. I couldn't imagine having a better Mom. My childhood was awesome to say the least. You'll never see me go on one of those talk shows trashing my parents or my upbringing. I wish more kids could have had a childhood like I had. I am thankful that I was spanked when I did something wrong. To show me that there are consequences for my actions. Helped make me a more responsible adult. Thanks Mom! Thankful that we never went hungry. Always had food on the table. Thankful that we ate together every night as a family. It might have been 8:00 or later, but Mom made sure that we all ate together. That is something that I still maintain to this day. Thankful that I had clothes to wear everyday. Thankful that we were finally able to find a size 13 shoe long before they were common place. For the cars that I drove and were provided to me. To be able to go to school and get an education. To get a strong work ethic. Again, thanks Mom! For a job that I go to everyday to help support my family. Thankful for a roof over our heads. The house that The Lord provides for us to live in. I am so thankful for my wife and daughter who faithfully serve The Lord! (Joshua 24:15) Thankful for my ever loving wife, who loves my despite my flaws. Who supports me and my ministry unconditionally. Who makes this house a home. A daughter who never got into trouble. Always received excellent grades in school, and is now in college. Thankful that I married into an amazing family who accepts me the way that I am. This post could go on forever and ever with everything that I have ever been thankful for. I think that you get the idea. To sum it up, I am thankful for my faith, family and friends, and everything that goes along with all of that. Most of all, I want to thank God for loving me unconditionally. For my salvation. For pulling me up out of the muck and mire that I was sinking in. Thank You Jesus!

Iron Sharpens Iron

Iron sharpens iron. Proverbs 27:17(NLT)17 As iron sharpens iron,so a friend sharpens a friend. I have heard this a hundred times. I have experienced it many times as well. But nothing like I have the last few months at work. I work with a woman who is a fellow Christian. She and I share what God has been doing to us and through us, almost daily. Our stories are incredible and almost identical. It's like God is confirming we are right were we should be. Well this morning it dawned on me. Like it never has before. I realized that we talk all day at work about our faith in Jesus and how we are supposed to spread the Gospel around to other people. To show the love of Jesus outside our workplace. This morning I realized that we both had stories that had happened over the weekend and then over the last two days we have been sharing them with each other. Bam, Iron sharpening iron! We are building each other up, to go out into our little world and share the Gospel of Jesus. He fills us up, so we can go out and empty ourselves to someone else. Then come back and fill up again, and repeat. I love how God is using us, both at work and outside of work. I thank God everyday for having this friend at work to talk with and to sharpen each other.