Category: Signs Of Life

General thoughts, mostly blog updates

Posted on

How I turned my life around… and lost it again

Life On Hold:

Have you ever been at a point where you know you need to change, but you just don’t know where to start? Four years ago, I was at that point.

I had recently moved back to my home town, had a beautiful family, and was pretty much happy. Except that I wasn’t happy. I was pretty miserable in fact, but I wasn’t letting on. Why? Some of the reasons were related to my job, but a lot of it had to do with me being 40+ pounds overweight. I was weighing in at 5′ 11″ and 215 pounds.

“That’s not so bad,” you’re probably thinking. Well, no, relatively speaking, there are a lot of people that are a lot heavier than I was. But the reality was that I knew my life, and my weight, were spiraling out of control. I was always tired, having digestion issues, sinus problems, sleep apnea, and I plowed through it, being miserable and pretty much always exhausted.

But I knew there was a better way. Thanks to my friend Mike, I got interested in whole foods (which I knew practically nothing about) and realized how much garbage I was putting into my body. Somewhere in that time, my job started getting very frustrating. I was hating going to work, and I’m ashamed to say it carried over into my home life. I knew I needed a change, but I didn’t know where to start.

So, I bought a bike. Continue reading “How I turned my life around… and lost it again”

Posted on

Life’s Too Short (To Be a Muggle)

Since we started homeschooling our kids (it’s a long story, but at the time we were living in Orleans Parish) we’ve struggled to motivate our kids to learn, and to develop personal skills.

If you’ve never seen or read the Harry Potter series, a “muggle” is a non-magical person in a world of magicians. In the stories, wizards who are born of one magical and one non-magical parent are “mugbloods”, or half breeds. They are viewed with contempt by the pure-blooded wizards, but the fact is they are just as powerful. Their lineage has nothing to do with whether or not they’re good wizards.

So often in our life, we look at non-churched people with contempt, because, well, they just couldn’t be as holy as us. Cause you know, we go to church. The same goes for anything…. homeschooling, bike commuting, cars we drive, clothes we wear… other people are different. And we’re not.

Yeah, right.

As far as allowing my kids to read and watch Harry Potter, I did consider it carefully beforehand, and no, it’s not perfect. There’s a lot there that needs to be addressed, but that discussion is for another day.

Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah. Homeschooling.

So we’ve always had normal behavior problems with our kids, for a variety of reasons. I decided to take advantage of my kids’ interest in Harry Potter by setting up a points system like they use at wizard school. Students can earn points for bravery, doing good deeds, following instructions, and being helpful. They gets points deducted for breaking rules, arguing, and being dishonest (we have to specify dishonest instead of lying because sometimes they will try to trick each other without words!)

We split our kids into two houses which happened to be the same as their houses on the website Pottermore.com and at the end of a predetermined time, whichever house has more points wins a prize, and the house cup. The other house will also get a smaller prize, because they earned points as well. For every point they earn, they add a bean to their house jar (white beans and red beans, because that’s what we had… the kids rolled them in glitter to make them “magical”) and after a couple of weeks, we add them up.

So far, it’s been fairly okay, but we’ve had a few meltdowns over points that we’ve had to deal with. Last night I had to take away points for the first time, and there was a major meltdown.

I guess the main thing about it is that for us to be able to assign house points, we have to be actively watching our kids. If they do something right and we don’t see it, but their siblings do the same and we catch it, then they get mad (and rightly so). It makes it very hard to be fair, so I’m required to equally spend time with all of the kids. Imagine that!

The truth I have to take away from this is that you have to meet kids where they are. You can say they need to learn something till you’re blue in the face, but when you speak their language, they listen.

And a little bit of magic doesn’t hurt!

Posted on

Congress #Failing

image

I saw this moron, in the span of about 10 minutes: run a stop sign, run a red light, tailgate, speed, and pass unsafely, all while talking on his cell phone. The license plate said “House of Representatives” and was plate number 052.

Just saying.

Posted on

Chopper Trike Done

Finished rebuilding the Chopper Trike for a friend… here it is! Only have to put the basket back on once the paint dries.

2013-04-20 14.55.04

 

Closeup of the brake bridge we added:

2013-04-20 14.55.19

Posted on

How Far Do You Go?

There are days when you wake up and dread getting out of bed. Do you know what I’m talking about? Those days, when you wish you could just pretend you weren’t a Christian, and didn’t have to be nice to anybody for a few days.

I’m just being honest. If you’ve never experienced this, then you’re not human. Everybody has bad days, and I’m no exception, even though I’m cheerier than most. There are some days (and more specifically, some people) that just make me wish I could move to a deserted island. There are people that suck so much energy out of you, it hurts to be in their presence.

How do you deal with people that suck all your joy out? Killjoys, pessimists, cynics, nagging, criticizing, and so on. After hours with them, you want to end the misery with blunt force trauma to the head (yours or theirs, doesn’t matter which).

We see Jesus (in Luke 6) as he’s teaching a crowd. He offers the Beatitudes, and then he follows them with some warnings:

27 “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29 If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. 30 Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.

32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. 35 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

Sounds easy, but it’s not. Now, for the real question: How far would Jesus love them? Would he allow them to drive him crazy, or would he look into their souls, see what they needed, and free them from it? At what point did he cut them loose?

Well, contrary to popular belief, there were plenty of times when Jesus cut people loose… let them go, pushed them further than they were willing to go. He didn’t always suck it up and put up with it. He told people what they needed to hear, and if they couldn’t handle it, he moved on. The Apostle Paul was the same way. In Matthew 11 and Luke 10, we even see Jesus denouncing entire cities that refused his message.

So, okay, maybe we don’t have the power to look into people’s souls, but we can pretty much figure out what they need (I mean really need, not just what we want to *ahem* give them). And let’s assume that you’ve given them truth as best you can, like Jesus would have.

So then what? Let’s see what Jesus did with people that tried his patience.

In Luke 4, Jesus was teaching in his home town, and the people wanted to know why he didn’t do more miracles there. He tells them the truth, and they responded with:

29 They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff. 30 But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.

He just slipped through and left them alone. He ignored their accusations, and left the situation. In Luke 19, Jesus enters the temple and begins throwing over tables, telling the sellers to get out!  He then proceeds to do what He did best, which is tell people the truth, and this was the outcome:

47 Every day he was teaching at the temple. But the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the leaders among the people were trying to kill him. 48 Yet they could not find any way to do it, because all the people hung on his words.

He spoke truth, and didn’t allow himself to be caught in lies. Everywhere He turned, people asked him inappropriate questions, and He always gave an answer, though not what they were looking for…

People asked Jesus who should take care of their estate. Jesus told them He wasn’t an arbiter of wills.
They asked if they should pay taxes. Jesus told them to give the government its due.
They asked how many times they could remarry, and who’s wife would she be in Heaven. Jesus told them they didn’t have a clue about what Heaven was like.

The focus isn’t going to be on who’s married to whom in heaven… our focus will be on worshipping the God of the universe.

So what do we do?

  • Know when not to say anything
  • Speak the truth in love
  • If you retaliate at all, kill them with kindness
  • If they reject the truth, smile and walk away.

Always remember: We can’t control other people’s actions, but we can control our own reactions. Take a deep breath, smile, and walk away.

Posted on

The “Good or God” Dilemma

In the last two years, my entire life has been turned upside down. From everybody’s perspective, I was on top of the world: I had lost 40 pounds, had gotten in shape, had self-published a book, started riding my bike to work (saving gas, money, and the environment!), was working at the best job I’d ever had, and by all intents and purposes, I had everything going for me.

Except for one little problem. I had made this my god (little “g”). I was too busy to read my Bible, was too busy to pray on a regular basis, too tired to play with my kids, too drained to spend quality time with my wife. I scrounged cycling forums several times a day, and kept meticulous records of my weekly mileage (I clocked in 4000+ miles in one year, on my bicycle!) But it wasn’t enough.

I was trying to better myself, but in the process, I had lost what really matters. I no longer was doing what I needed to do. I didn’t really need to get healthier or save money. I wanted to because it made me feel better physically and mentally. But spiritually, I was sick!

The truth is, I was seeking approval from the wrong place. I was getting plenty of accolades, even from the people whom I was cheating time from. But I had walked away from talking with God. I was content that the relationship would stay on hold, and that God would be there, right where I left off, when I needed him again.

And then I got hit by a car that ran a red light. Shattered my life, shattered my femur, shattered my self-confidence. It shook me from top to bottom, and all of a sudden I realized I wasn’t as close to God as I had thought. I found myself unable to stand or walk, stuck with a hospital bill I couldn’t pay. I was completely helpless.

For a few days, I stuck it out. I was strong, I could deal with this. But after days of having my leg in traction waiting on surgery (and you don’t want to know how they did that… let’s just say, even on morphine, it was extremely unpleasant) I broke down and admitted there was absolutely nothing I could do. And then, when I realized all those pounds I lost and miles I rode were worthless if I might never walk again, God came to me. He was there, all along. He hadn’t moved: I had left Him behind. In my own quest for self-improvement, I had lost touch with my Creator.

I urge you, if you’re in a place where everything is going fine, don’t forget about God. It’s easy, but don’t do it. You cannot enjoy all the things in life you’ve been blessed with without acknowledging  who allowed it to happen.

“But,” you say with your hands on your hips, “God didn’t give me fitness/money/whatever, I worked for it!”

Who gave you the ability to walk? Who kept you from being run over by a car running a red light? Who do you think blessed you with eyesight to be able to read this? God did. It wasn’t an accident. Who allowed me to get hit by a car? God did. Why? Because when you can’t walk, you can’t run away from your problems. God won’t chase you; He will make you stop running. That’s how He works.

Self-improvement for its own sake is pointless. Only when you replace the worldly approval with Jesus do you see benefits of doing good. You can obsess over simplicity just like you can be consumed with materialism. For some it’s a matter of obsessing over something good, like exercise, while leaving your spiritual condition in shambles.

Focusing on anything, even “good” things, outside of God, will land you in trouble. One day you may find yourself unable to run. Once you realize you are helpless, truly helpless, then you will be able to see God do miraculous things.

Good works are not a substitute for a relationship with God.

Posted on

Redefining Yourself

I’ve decided to do something radical. No, not a tattoo (though that would be wild for me).

I’m going to cut back massively on my online presence.

No, seriously. I’ve spent the last 20 years building up my online presence, developing connections, and working on spreading myself all over the internet. And I’m pretty much over it.

I’ve begun deactivating online accounts I rarely use, including Pinterest, Brainbench, and several others. I’m unsubscribing from all the dumb mailing lists. I’m leaving the huge lists of forums I used to visit. I’m reconsidering my involvement with social media, including Facebook, Twitter, and Google+. More and more, I find myself disgusted with what I have to put up with using these services, and less and less am I finding joy in using them.

I’m hoping that it will free up my brain to make room for more important things like spending time writing, updating my blog, recording music, and spending time with my family. All worthy causes.

I do realize, of course, that I will have to maintain at least one online presence. Most likely I will keep one social media outlet as well (and there’s plenty of reasons it probably won’t be Facebook). But the truth is, these things don’t define me, and I don’t need them to live a happy, fulfilled life. Twenty years ago, I was better off without them, and I believe you were too, if you happen to be old enough to remember life before the internet.

Morpheus

It is a gradual process. Places like Facebook make it extremely difficult to leave, but it is indeed possible.

Wish me luck.

Posted on

Jury Duty

Well, looks like I got called up for duty again. It’s nice to be wanted, but it is horribly inconvenient. I’m not going to lie, I would rather be somewhere else.

And then I stop and think. What if I were wrongly accused? Would I want someone like myself on a jury? Probably so. Maybe it won’t be so bad.

Still, could use some coffee…