Wednesday, January 30, 2008

More Words of Wisdom!

I guess we get an extra blessing of words of wisdom today! I got this in one of the e-mail forwards that some people send around to everyone. Well, this is my way of forwarding it! Except I cut out everything but the words that struck me the most:

God still sits on the throne.

Isn't that true? You could be having a really crappy day, think back and take comfort in this fact. Through the storm, God still sits on the throne. In the aftermath, God STILL sits on the throne. Through our highs and lows, God still sits on the throne. He is the alpha, the omega, the beginning and the end, and no matter what you do, he will still be sitting on that throne!

I'll leave you with this verse:
"Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." Hebrews 4:16 (NIV)

Words of Wisdom

I was just remembering something my Pastor told me last Thursday when I was telling him how I was growing and improving in what I was doing, but how sometimes it's still a struggle. He said someone told him a couple weeks ago that:

"If you aren't ready to quit every Monday, then you must be doing something wrong."

That is so true, though. There have been times when I want to quit doing what I'm doing at church because it can be hard and it's a stretch and sometimes I just don't want to go through with it anymore, but if you think about it, that is when you learn and grow the most and when it is the most rewarding.

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

It's alive!

And it's growing!! AND it Sits!






































Here's Rusty! He's my Golden Retreiver, not really a puppy anymore. He'll be 9 months old in a couple weeks.

He looks very mild mannered in these photos, but don't be fooled! He's pretty crazy hyper! He just loves to sit pretty and get his photo taken. He loves the attention!

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Blessings

Yesterday we went to Target because I want to upgrade to 8 lb weights for my workout and I needed to buy some. So we ended up taking those as well as a Power Shovel! No, I'm not making this up! It is like the cross between a snow blower and a shovel. Kind of nifty. So we were doing my driveway, and the power cord that I have isn't long enough. (I still need to buy my own and give that one back to my dad. Oops.) So I borrowed one from my neighbor. Well, I haven't really talked to my neighbor in a while because of winter, and it's always dark out when I'm home and he's never home, so we talked for a few minutes. Somehow Internet came up, and he told me I could use his wireless Internet and gave me his password and everything! I'm glad because I haven't gotten it yet (along with cable) because those are considered luxury items in my mind, and I'm not ready to pay for them. So that was a blessing! Woohoo, I have internet now!

I was going to post this last night, but Gabe had to take my laptop to his house. Oh, the irony.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Broken Sunday

I know some people might be surprised by this, but I actually listen to some secular music. There's some out there that is actually "Christian", but they don't say it, and some that are just spiritual. In my opion, music is spiritual and many bands use it as an expression of their hearts, so sometimes you see that what's in their hearts is not good, but sometimes it is.

Anyway, I was listening to Pandora, a site that is great for discovering music. You type in what you want to hear and it plays that, and music that is like it. So I hear the song "Broken Sunday" a lot by Saliva. I think the lyrics of this song are pretty powerful. I read that the writer of the song says it's about God. To me, I think it is about heaven because of how he says that this world is not our home. But it's also about God, because he won't leave us.



Here are the lyrics:



"Broken Sunday"
I looked up at the stars tonight,
To see your face and to feel your presence now,
I need you here right now..I came from a lonely place,
Windows strewn in my darkest hour now,
I need you here right now,
I need you here,
Cos you won't leave me lonely,
Cos I can't go on,
You won't leave me broken,
In a world that's not my home,
Cos I'll be gone,
Until forever,
I'll be home,
Goodbye my broken Sunday.

One love and one escape,
To another place where the pain and fear fade out,
I need you here right now,
I need you here cos you won't leave me lonely,
Cos I can't go on,
You won't leave me broken,
In a world that's not my home,
Cos I'll be gone,Until forever..
I'll be home, until my name is etched in stone,
Oh, and we will never be alone,
Goodbye my broken Sunday.
You won't leave me lonely,
Cos I can't go on,
You won't leave me broken,
In a world that's not my home.
Cos I'll be gone,Until forever..
I'll be home,Until my name is etched in stone,
Oh,And we will never be alone,
Goodbye my broken Sunday.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Countdown!

Woohoo! 13 days 'til I go to Mexico! I'm pretty excited! I checked and the weather in Monterrey is anywhere from the 50's to the 80's this week, which is WAY nicer than I am experiencing here in the snowy tundra of Michigan!

(Click here if you have no idea what I'm talking about and need some more background info. It is the entry in my old blog where I wrote about the trip.)

I just ordered 2 children's CD's: Niños Cantan Clasicos 1 & 2. So I have 13 days to go through it and figure out how to play at least 3 songs to play at the orphanages. I'm shooting more for 5 and hopefully other people on the team will step up and learn to sing them with me.

I know it's going to be a work trip, but I am still looking forward to getting away for a while. I haven't had a real vacation in a long time (Vegas with my family in 2006?) so this is the next best thing, in my books. Even more terrible, I haven't been out of the country since going to Mexico with Gabe and TDS in ... 2005, I think.

Anyway, I don't really know what to expect this time around. It's going to be a bit different than most of the other trips I've been on. I guess my biggest worry is that I don't bond with people and become a loner since I don't really know anyone else who is going. I'm really going to have to open myself up for this one. It should be fine, though.

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Job Interviews are fun!

If you love the stress and difficult questions of job interviews, then I'm sure you'd love a public one! The interviews for the new GRPD Police chief are open to the public. That is one tough interview!

http://www.woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=7690251

Tell me about your interviews! Your worst/best one, I want to hear a good story. I was once in an interview with 5 people! If you ask me, five against one is not quite fair.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Nothing new

I haven't posted anything in a few days. But mostly because nothing big is going on and I haven't come across anything that I thought was that worthy to put in print. But I guess, here are some things I could touch on:

I'm getting a little skinnier but not really losing weight. That is how it usually works for me at first. There were these pants that I couldn't find into a couple weeks ago, but don't worry, they fit now! It's so good to see results of all my work. I've been getting up at 5:30 on weekday mornings except Wednesday is my rest day for my boot camp. I still woke up at 5:30, though. I guess my body is getting used to it already.

I guess I haven't really mentioned this, but I'm applying for a manager position in my department. I've kept most of this to myself because ..well, I keep a lot of things to myself. I don't want to go on and on about things that may or may not happen. It would be really nice, though. I feel like I'm ready and also feel I am the best fit for the job. I had my review recently and it was very good.

I got my hot tub fixed last night, so I better use it more often. TTYL! *splash!* Ok, just kidding about that. I can't jump in the hot tub in the middle of the day! I'm not even home. Although... I could go home for lunch... Nah, too much work. My joints are kind of hurting so I'll probably use it tonight.

Speaking of tonight, I got an electronic dart board, and that thing is so fun! There's like 30 different games on it! The first day we put it up, Gabe threw out his elbow. I think he'll be joining me in the Tub tonight!

Ok, that's all. Although I do have an observation. I need some pics on my new blog. It sure is boring.

Friday, January 11, 2008

Follow up- January Series

I got back from the January Series presentation not too long ago. It was very interesting, though a little different than I expected. I thought he would basically be making some sort of dramatic telling of his story. At first he actually said "I was a child soldier from the ages of 12-15, then I was rehabilitated." And I was a little disappointed, like I already knew I wasn't going to get what I was expecting. But it was still really good.

He did go into more detail here and there, but I think the reason he didn't tell it all is that he couldn't. He actually wrote an entire book about it, and for me to assume he could tell that story in one hours time was probably a little naive of me.

Here is a little summary of his story: at the age of 12 he happened to be away from home when the war entered his country (Sierra Leone) from Liberia. His whole family was in their village and were killed. He was left with his brother (I think) to survive on their own, day by day, when they were basically kidnapped (though he didn't say that) and forced into military service. He said he was "involuntarily drafted". He said that one awful thing about fighting in a war is that it forces you to dehumanize your enemy in order to justify killing them, but in that process, you also dehumanize yourself. At the age of 15, he was rescued by UNICEF and put in a rehabilitation center in the capital city, and through a long process (at least 8 months) was rehabilitated. He came to the US (I think maybe he was adopted) and lives in New York and speaks regularly during presentations at the United Nations and various other NGOs. I hope to buy his book soon and read it. It's called "A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier".

Here are some highlights that I took away:
"One thing that I learned was that the human spirit is so resilient and strong that it is able to find hope in complete hopelessness."

One thing that enabled him to recover faster than some was that he was taught at a young age to find and celebrate the simple joys of life.

Suffering is all equal. We tend to discredit other people's suffering and consider it smaller than our own, but we shouldn't judge or belittle other people's suffering.

Education helps us discover our place and purpose in this world. He credits it for helping to rehabilitate him as well.

These are the breeding grounds for war: demoralization, destitution, poverty and desperation. People in these circumstances and are more manipulable because if you offer anything that could possibly change their situation, they will be desperate to comply.

Writers should only write with a purpose and they have the responsibility to be accurate. If they make things up, they are doing a disservice to people who may have lived similar stories.

He said that after going through so much and now living in the US, every day he wakes up with a smile on his face. He used to live minute to minute just trying to survive and appreciates that every morning is a gift from God and an oportunity to live out your purpose in this world.

Child Soldiers

Today, I am going to a January Series presentation by Calvin College. It is being given by a guy from Sierra Leone who is a former Child Soldier. His name is Ishmael Beah. I spent time at the United Nations a few years ago, so it should be really interesting. I better take tissues, too, because it could get emotional. I try to post on it when I get back to share the most interesting points.

Thursday, January 10, 2008

I'm losing weight!

So, I've been on a new, self-directed weight loss plan since Saturday (January 4) because I quit working out a few weeks before Thanksgiving and had gained about 5 pounds or so. I am an avid customer of Beachbody.com and decided to buy one of their new workout plans: Power 90. However, I didn't want to wait until it delivered to start the program, so I did some Turbo Jam in the meantime. Plus I've been eating healthy. You know, fruits and veggies, whole grains, lean means, low fat, NO soda, etc. I think I've been eating 1500-1700 calories a day, maybe less. Well, I already lost over 3 pounds. I even had a "rest" day yesterday and still lost weight! Overall, I'm pretty satisfied. I feel better, have more energy (and I'm drinking less caffeine), feel stronger and slimmer.

And guess what else? I got Power 90 the other day (their shipping is fast!) and I love it! I like it better than Turbo Jam. It's way less complicated. The moves are simple and seem to work. I can feel that they work. It's a little more directed to men, but women do it too and have been successful with it. The only thing I didn't really like was the yoga warm-up. It was just way different to what I'm used to and the range of motions is really long. I'm not that flexible yet! Maybe the ones in the next level are better or maybe it will feel better as I keep doing it. Overall, I think it was pretty fun and I'm really looking forward to my next session. Speaking of which, I've been getting up at 5:30 in the morning to work out! I know, I'm shocked, too. The first few days I was tired, but I think I'm adapting.

Oh, and I ordered a heart rate monitor, too! I'm always excited about electronic gadgets! This should be cool. I saw it and had to have it, so hopefully I get a lot of use out of it. I'll post more about it when I get it and figure out all the features. It's coming tomorrow!!

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

History

Here is my old blog, in case you want to do a little more digging.

http://krild.spaces.live.com/blog/

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

New Years Resolutions

Yeah, I actually don't really "believe" in New Year's Resolutions, because not very many people follow through with them. I would rather call them decisions for change, because I make "resolutions" at different times, not just when the new year comes along.

I do, however have a few goals that pretty much have to be done this year. In fact, they should be done before summer:
1. Lose 20 lbs and eat better. I've done it before, I can do it again, right?
2. Unpack my moving boxes and settle in my house. It's been over a year! Get with the program!

And here a few things I'd like to try to do this year, or at least before I die. I'd say, maybe, pick a few out of the list to do this year:
Find a winter sport to do
Take an ACTUAL vacation!
Do something adventurous, such as go out of town/state on a hike or to bike some trails, etc.
Take up Kayaking or Mountain Biking
get a new car or start saving for one
Write a book

And to be more transparent, and possibly accountable, here are some things I need to work on:
Go running regularly with Rusty (my Golden Retriever)
be more organized
be more organized at home
be more organized at work
Get out more!
Spend more time with friends and family
Eat less, but more healthy
Get a new place to host my blog (DONE!)
Blog regularly
Read my Bible more
Pray more
Play guitar more

Ok, that's all for now. I might update it later.

Hiking up Life's Mountain

So, here is my first post on this blog. How's if I explain it a little. You know how you can say "life is like.." pretty much anything? Well, I think that life is like a mountain. Well, it can actually be any terrain you want it to be. It could be a walk in the park, but there is no challenge to that. It could be a swim in the lake, but when you're done, your just all wet and need to take a shower. It could be a bunch of hills, but hills are boring and all start looking the same after a while. So, for me, it should be a mountain. If you want your life to be fulfilling, it should be challenging. We shouldn't be just living day to day, but creating our own challenges to help us learn and grow, become better people, and keep on moving up in the world! And in order to do that, you need to pace yourself, take it one step at a time, and no matter what, keep on trekking! So here, I will document my trek.