Also, this week.

• LookupCenter.org
• thesavageathlete.com
• landorhomes.com

Today, I am just enjoying the quiet while I write and think a little bit.  The next few weeks are going to be a radical shift for my family and I.  I’ve never done a long-distance move before.  I’ve contemplated it when I interviewed at churches in Lake Havasu, AZ and Kalispell, MT & sent a resume out to Juneau, AK.  As you can tell probably, Becca & I are really excited about the move.

There is a bittersweet part of moving in all of it too.  We had gotten pretty close to our church family at Narrow Road Community Church.  I mean, they knew we were looking for where God would take us since we first started attending there.  I had mentioned it in prayer enough while I was frustrated with the job search (which was often).  They knew also that it was wearing on us considering Becca being pregnant and also the primary provider for our family financially.  But we love these people.  We had gotten involved in numerous ways (not as much as we wanted even) and really felt loved.  They have in many ways become family to us.

I know there are problems in every church, but being at Narrow Road Community Church has been one of the best experiences I’ve ever had with a church… warts and all.  We have been blessed beyond measure, prayed for, lifted up emotionally & spiritually and invested into while being a part of the family there.  There’s been way more opportunity to get connected with the church family that I’ve never been able to take advantage of.  More ways to serve than you could shake a stick at.  I can honestly say that no one in that church feels like they are left out feeling that they don’t know how they can get involved.  If they do, it’s their own fault.  Now I know not every church is destined to be a mega-church.  I had never understood that till I came to Narrow Road.  Some churches are meant to be small.  Small is what they do best.  A congregation can be cared for adequately.  People can grow together in ways they just can’t in a big church.  The pastors (both of them) excite in me a passion for preaching the Word, really caring about people, and just being around them you know you are loved and cared for yourself.  I don’t know if Narrow Road is destined to be a large church, but I can say they do small really well and I think they would do large well too.

I am not belittling the lessons I’ve learned elsewhere before coming to Narrow Road as a burned out (probably mostly my own fault) recent Associate Pastor from another local church, but here is where I’ve been re-ignited, reforged, and set aflame with passion again.  Narrow Road has been a refuge for me and a place of renewing for both Becca & I.  I hope in the future I can maintain the relationships I’ve found at Narrow Road and bridges can be built in the Kingdom of God for God’s Word to be spread all the more because of it.

I got a job!

But job sounds like something you do for money as in “selling out”.  I prefer the term “position” because it sounds more like the way I view it.  Doing something you love while getting paid and being able to provide for your family doing it.  So what does this mean for the immediate future.  Well, we are moving for one.  Right now the moving is scrounging around for moving boxes and trying to pack while looking for a place to live.

So now for the details.  The church is Franklin First United Methodist Church in Franklin, KY.  This means we are moving in the next few weeks.  Becca is really excited as it means going back south.  Kentucky is her home state and as she’s lived pretty much all over western Kentucky, she counts the whole state as “hometown” for the most part.  We will be about an hour away from Mammoth Caves, 45 minutes away from Nashville, 30 minutes or less from Bowling Green.  I will be the Youth & Young Adults Pastor at the church Full-time & Becca will get to be a stay-at-home mom (which is what she wants to do).  She is also probably going to start writing on her site a lot more, www.motherhoodfordummies.com.

Now, the only thing I’ll be worried about is the fact that I’m going to be working with this guy below as he is the pastor at the church I’m going to.  He’s the one on the right.

See I didn’t realize the underlying Jewish Rabbi Cult that has permeated the United Methodist Church.  The fact that he has Henna Art on his hand along with painted fingernails.  I will assume that this image is of some strange new age Jewish wedding or “The Night of the Henna”.  Looking at Wikipedia I find: (via this link under the section for “Traditions of Henna as body Art”)

The Night of the Henna was celebrated by most groups in the areas where henna grew naturally: Jews,^[11] Muslims,^[12] Hindus, Christians and Zoroastrians, among others, all celebrated marriages by adorning the bride, and often the groom, with henna.

Today all that changed.

My new keyboard arrived. I installed it in about five minutes and fired up my computer to all the “A” goodness I could muster. My first few attempts at typing were awkward as I had become accustomed to not pushing the “A” key because I was copy and pasting the “A” from other places where I could find an “a” on the screen. Every time I needed an “a” I would instead hit ctrl+v and paste it from the clipboard. I am much happier today.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

… that’s seven days a week traveling, staying in hotels and away from my family?

When I went for the interview for the position with Olan Mills, I stopped and took this picture because of the turkey vulture on the roof.  It was one of those scenes that was pretty cool in person, but didn’t have the right atmosphere for the moment.  I played with the image a little this morning and came up with this rendition of the scene.  Enjoy.

Anyway, I am doing a second interview for a position I interviewed for this coming week sometime and hopefully can announce that here soon.

Original Image.

Location:Stone Ave,Columbus,United States

Location:Kentucky 10,Alexandria,United States

Swings.
We had decided to go for a drive up to the Wooster, Ohio area. 514 is a beautiful drive and I love driving country roads. (don’t even start singing that song right now) We drove up to Killbuck wetlands near Wooster and decided to head back. We saw a sign for Mohican state park, and made our way there in hopes that we might find a place just to hang out at a park or something for a little while. The campgrounds proved to be the best spot and we found a nice little playground. My son, Aidan loves swings. But as you can see in the picture below, my wife does too.

The Funeral.
The Second Moment, I don’t have a picture for but hopefully I can do the scene justice as I illustrate it with words. My grandfather died recently. My grandmother and him were married for 67 years. The day after they were married, he headed to war. So he was a veteran. Now the scene.

My grandfather died the week before the fourth of July. Every year on the fourth of July they put flags out at cemeteries much like they do on Memorial day. Being a veteran, they also give military honors. It was cool for late June. Around seventy degrees and the wind blew just enough to keep the flags all flying and flapping in the breeze. All the family was gathered around and right at the beginning of the service, the veterans with rifles at the ready saluted and raised their guns and all seven fired three times. I held my son, Aidan (a gentleman from the funeral home held his hands over Aidan’s ears for the gunshots). In the quiet peace that followed, Taps was played. I am not usually the most emotional of people, but in that moment, with the wind flapping American flags as far as I could see behind the veteran soldiers as the trumpet played the tune of a soldier who has finally laid down his life, I felt something more than mere patriotism. Several soldiers then proceeded to in front of the casket and folded the American Flag and presented it to my grandmother. Bullet shells were passed out to family. I got one for Aidan. It is a scene that I will never forget.

These are the two moments that I have recently had that I will never forget. Things I will cherish. Moments that will go with me the rest of my life and be played out in dreams for years to come.

NEWARK: A graveside service for Jesse Dale Morton will be held 11:00 a.m. Wednesday at Newark Memorial Gardens with Pastor Les Crossfield presiding. Licking County Veterans Alliance will render military honors. A gathering of relatives and friends will be one hour prior to service time, beginning at 10:00 a.m. at Brucker-Kishler Funeral Home, 985 North 21st Street, Newark. A procession to the cemetery will form at the funeral home.

Mr. Morton, a retired computer programmer for the Newark Air Force Base, passed away June 26, 2010 at Flint Ridge Nursing Center at the age of 87. He was born August 26, 1922 in Uhrichsville, Ohio, the son of the late Willard R. and Ruth (Utterback) Morton. Jesse married Janis Avril Holcomb on January 13, 1943. He served in the U.S. Army during WWII. Jesse attended Wesleyan Community Church.

Mr. Morton is survived by his loving wife of 67 years, Janis Morton; three sons, Gary (Nancy) Morton of Heath, Willard (Beverly) Morton of Heath and Marvin (Rose) Morton of Clarksville, TN; two daughters, Sheryl (Robert) Williams of Newark and Linda (Bill) Lehman of Buckeye Lake; a sister, Louise Thompson of Uhrichsville; 11 grandchildren; and six great grandchildren.

In addition to his parents; Jesse was preceded in death by his brother, Faye.

To sign an online guest book, please visit www.brucker-kishler funeralhome.com and click obituaries/view full details/add memorial guest book entry.

Did you catch it?  If you didn’t, the title of this post certainly should have clued you in.  My grandfather and grandmother were married for 67 years!  Another tidbit to the story is that when they got married, they married the day before my grandfather was shipped off to war.  In today’s age, I am proud of this.  It’s a testament to commitment, love… and those vows that are so often uselessly repeated each day by people supposedly in love with each other.  I wish this kind of love and commitment every time I go to a wedding.

Here is a man who kept his word, A man I am proud to say was my grandfather.  Not because he was rich or powerful or famous, but because he demonstrated with his life something I wish more people would “get” today, the value of commitment & keeping your word.

It’s not on it’s final domain name just yet, so you can check it out at www.lickingcountyjob.com for the time being.

After that, I’ll begin working on the local jail ministry website.

With family life, I’ve been really praying about a job I interviewed for this last week. It would be a lot of time away from my family if I took it. Pretty much a hotel each night/road warrior type of position. After talking with my family, I am still at the crossroads on taking it. I have a second interview lined up on Wednesday.

Becca has been feeling a little better as she is in her second trimester with baby #2. Though work has been tough on her as of late as they are making snide comments and hassling her about her sitting down in between customers. I have put a lot of resumes out there but have yet to find a job that I’ll make enough that Becca could just be a stay at home mom like we had originally planned.

Aidan is growing every day. He actually fell asleep with a french fry in his hands earlier when I dropped off Becca at work and headed home.

My grandfather on my mom’s side is not doing well. Dale Morton. He was put on dialysis a few weeks ago but they have determined that it was not doing any good. The other day, he decided to not go through with dialysis anymore and let nature take it’s course. He is not expected to make it though the rest of the month.

The image at the top of the post is of a turkey vulture I saw when I went to my interview wednesday of last week. There were two but one flew away when I pulled up to take the picture. It would probably be a better picture if I retouched it but it’s okay.

Location:N 40th St,Newark,United States

Now if only I could educate myself in not using the letter so often, then I might be better off without it.

I created this little scene using the iPad and the brushes app for iPad.

So we listened to pandora and mapped out yard sales with the gps (with satellite view).

And I stayed up last night playing around with sketchbook pro and came up with this rather strange looking guy staring off into space.

But if you aren’t doing anything on Sunday and you live in the area, we’d love to have you join us.  Check out the post on the church website for more info.

To tell the truth I look forward to listening to it again myself… but I’ll try to sum up what I got out of the sermon today that challenged me.

• It’s the overflow of our faith which is the outpouring of worship.
• Faith gives it’s best.
• Faith is how we know we are saved.
• Faith calls us to do things that look strange to others who don’t have faith.

I am sure I am not quite getting all the points that were listed, but what it comes down to is this.  Everything in the Christian life comes down to an issue of faith.  From what we give of our time, ourselves and our income to how we live on a daily basis.  Without faith, it’s just words and works.  Neither of which will save us.  Faith is how we understand.  Not knowledge.  Not more study.  More faith.

I have a friend who likes to study things and devise theories on how God works.  But he is quite lost.  I don’t think he knows it either.  He knows a lot of God.  He is a pastor even.  But deep down it seems he has pushed faith aside for ideologies, philosophies, and mere spirituality.

I am challenged by this because it means that all the Bible Study in the world won’t get me closer to God unless it comes from a genuine faith that God will meet me when I come to Him.

I find that a scary proposition actually, but also quite freeing.  Faith must come first.

Hebrews 11, Genesis 4

His will.

Our will.

That’s all it really comes down to. So when we pray those words “Not my will, but thine… on earth as it is in Heaven” is a prayer that encompasses the heart of repentance. To turn away and become infatuated with what God’s will is rather than our own. This is the great denial. This is the catch. This is where we die and Christ lives…

…if we let Him.

So I am beginning something new. I don’t want to be the same old me anymore. “Me” doesn’t work. God does.

Part of the point of this is complete brutal honesty about where I am and where God takes me over the course of the next six months. Maybe this journey can be helpful to someone else too. I know that I am led to begin the adventure to real transformation and for now that is my only goal. To be transformed by a real and authentic relationship with Jesus Christ.

The greatest gift you can give to the world is your own intimacy with Jesus Christ.

Web & graphic design was never the objective, but it’s what pays the bills when I am otherwise out of work (along with my wife working outside the home).  This way, we both can make some income and not pay a daycare service.  If we had to do that, we’d be deeper in debt and not have the time we currently get to spend with our son, Aidan.  Soon, though there will be two.

Another little one is on the way, so I’ve been trying to up the number of websites I build and host on a regular basis for people.  Hopefully, if I get enough (around 10 more) sites, I will be able to tell my wife that she doesn’t have to work outside the home anymore which in turn will free me up more to do more design work.

But that is still plan B.  My heart is in Christian Ministry.  I’ve applied at a few more churches looking for a full-time opportunity.  But if that doesn’t pan out, I guess I’ll just get more involved where I am at now.  (See link to the right – in the sidebar)

More often than not, my plan b sometimes is God’s plan a.

If you’ve checked the tech blogs lately, they’ve been buzzing about a next generation iphone that came to light after an Apple employee lost the prototype at a bar.  Tech blog, Gizmodo apparently bought the device for $10,000 to take it apart and break the news on it for the sake of a few advertising dollars and a spotlight for a few days on the other tech blogs.

It’s an issue of morality & integrity that I think is unfortunately lost on a lot of our culture.  Apparently Gizmodo is also on the bandwagon of moral degradation too.  But I am curious what would have happened if Gizmodo had just given the device back to Apple instead of knowingly purchase stolen property to exploit?

Now, I have a lot of respect for Apple over their decision to ban porn applications on their app store.  A decision that I think actually embodies the philosophy of Google’s to “not be evil” better than Google has done themselves.  In this they have proven a moral stronghold when they could have easily chosen otherwise.

Bridges torn down instead of built up.

I am not sure what would have actually happened if Gizmodo had just given the device back, but I am sure that bridges would have been been built instead of torn down.  Now you have Cupertino upset over the issue.  Not because their device was leaked, but because of the lack of respect that has been shown them on behalf of the tech blogs in the face of the massive security measures usually taken by Apple to keep things under wraps till a launch date or press conference.

I will admit I am an idealist.  I think a person or company should be respected in regards to information like this.

If the device had been given back, Apple would have taken notice.  I do not think that they would have been left out in the cold either when the device was actually launched.  Apple likes to do things differently which is well-known.  An uncommon company like them would have also probably been uncommonly grateful as well.

Meet the Press.

Gizmodo hasn’t always been the giant tech blog that it is today.  Now it sits in the ranks of TechCrunch, Engadget and Lifehacker with millions of page views every month.  But Gizmodo has made it clear that they are the same caliber of journalists that made us hate printed media, blood-sucking journalists that are out to exploit anyone and anything for the bottom line.  Of course that’s what makes the page views.  That’s what pulls in the advertising dollars.  That’s how you make a name for yourself.  Exploitation.

It’s also why Gizmodo has been deleted from my feedreader as of late as well as other blogs that have done the same thing.

There are a lot of news organizations out there.  There are some really good tech blogs that I still enjoy reading, ones that haven’t “sold out” to get ahead of the game through buying stolen property.  I hope Apple shows grace to you.  I hope forgiveness is a part of their language.  The fact that this was a knowingly unreleased product, any judge in their right mind would rule in their favor, regardless of whether a police report was filed or not.