Old Testement Reading and Church

I was asked to do the Old Testement Reading for church today and it was Joel 2:8-32.  I thought when I found out what the reading was that it was a little lengthy, but it was in poetic form, so I went with it.  I found out after church that it was a misprint, but everything turned out alright because it did tell a story and the reading was fairly easy other than I did fumble a couple of times.  The readings and the theme of today's sermon was about the Holy Spirit.  It seems that the Holy Spirit is one of the hardest concepts to grasp and I don't claim to be an authority.

The Holy Spirit to me is the force you feel during great times, whether it is of a loss, hardship, comforting, etc.  I know in my times of worry this week when I've felt overwhelmed getting things ready for school, I have felt comforted after I've prayed and to me, I believe it's the Holy Spirit I'm feeling.  I know I felt the Holy Spirit once I accepted Jesus.  It was like a wave of relief rolled over my soul that I had never felt before.  

In my Sunday School class, a few weeks ago we talked about the Holy Spirit and we read different passages that showed evidence in the New Testement.  What I found enlightening however, was when members of the class gave their personal experiences and it made me feel good that others experienced it in similar fashion that I did.  One discussion was if people felt the Holy Spirit immediately after they have accepted Christ or does it happen later.  I'm not an expert, but I feel it is different in each experience since not one person is the same.  

On another note: I found a song that has really stuck with me by the christian group, MercyMe called Bring the Rain.  Here is a video from YouTube that someone made with the song.  Enjoy.

Busy Time

First, an update on Thumper. She is still with us. She has a hard time holding up her head, so she bumps into things, but she is still eating okay and her bodily functions are fine. We had a scare when a bump on her head released some blood, but the vet said that is normal considering how big her tumor is. We are just taking one day at a time with her.

I have been very busy with getting ready for the new school year. School starts here on Monday and I'm anxious in a nervous way.  I've been at school all week between trainings and getting our store ready, I managed to get the room ready as best as possible. No matter how much work I do, I never feel that I am ready. The regular ed. teachers have been busy trying to create units based on new guidelines and they feel like they're unprepared as well.

Not only is school keeping me busy, I've been making revisions for our project with the local newspaper and we got paid for it! Yea! Our side business did the graphic design for a supplement that will be coming out in a few weeks that deals with teenage suicide prevention. The paper gave us the information and basically, we put it together with graphics. I can't wait for it come out so I can see what it looks like on paper.

On the book front, I sold 28 books at the church and they are being shipped to me. The youth group will be getting $100 once I get all the money from the customers. I will be selling the book to faculty at my school in a couple of weeks, so it should be interesting how it will do.

Who Is God?

God exists.
Observe His creations:
The splendor of a robin
in the apple tree-
she sings dawn’s entrance.

God is beautiful.
Every flower a testament,
lush green meadows
roll across deep valleys;
We are his reflection.

God is immense.
Horizons loom on the sea,
like watercolor landscapes,
spanning forever;
His depth, beyond us.

God is near.
Look in the eyes of loving couples
and laughter of small children.
His presence touches us each day,
in ways we take for granted.

God is Love.

Updates

Thumper seems to be doing okay appetite wise.  The blood test results indicated that her thyroid is fine, so the vet has placed her on high calorie wet food that we are mixing with dry.  She devours the food, so we know she's eating well.  I think we will weigh her once or twice a week from here on out just to make sure she doesn't lose anymore.  It's been a stressful time for me and my wife since we treat her like our baby.

The book is doing well at church.  I am up to 12 orders and the deadline is next Sunday.  After church next week, I will order the books online.  After shipping, we are close to making $45 for the youth group which is nice.  I hope we can get 3 more sales so I know we will go over the $50 mark in profits for the kids.  

I decided that I will be going up to my school on Tuesday and Wednesday to get my classroom in order and work on lesson material.  School starts here on August 13 and the week of the 6th will be packed with professional development, so I need to get the classroom in order.  Starting a new year is always stressful since you don't know how the kids are after the summer off and just starting in general.  I look forward to getting back into the routine.  I know my wife is ready for me to go back (heh).  I plan to write more tomorrow on a more religious nature because I have so many things to say.

A Little Down Right Now

In my very first post I gave a history and one of the things that brought me back to church was our cat that has a cancerous tumor and meeting with a member who specializes in holistic medicine.  Well, the kitty is not doing well.  She is down to 9.7 pounds.  This was a cat who was 17 pounds a year ago.  There is nothing anyone can do medically.  We have to hand feed her because the tumor on her head has grown to the point where she has a hard time moving her jaw.  I have thought over and over when should we put her down.  Bodily function wise, she does everything.  With her tumor though, she is starting to bump into things because she can't keep her head up for long periods of time due to the weight of the tumor.  I admit, me and Becky are upset and I do cry during a weak moment.  I know God will take of her and she truly has been a blessing.  She's a fighter.  When I weep and talk to her, she still purrs.  She's a trooper.  God brought her to us so that we could know Him and I am forever grateful.  The hard part is coming up and I know it.  I will keep praying for her to keep a quality of life, but I know the time is coming close when we will have to decide enough is enough.  Please pray for her.

Checking In

Sorry for the lack of blogging. I've been working on getting Scorched Earth ready for the next issue. (Submission deadline is July 30th) and we have a graphic design project that I've been working on. Until it comes out, I have to keep it under wraps, but I can say it is going to do a lot of good here locally. It is a paid job, so I've been devoting a lot of time to it. I am going to get back to getting school work ready tomorrow. I don't have too much more I can do here at home and I plan to work next week up at school.

I've started taking orders for the book at church and after the announcement, I have 5 orders already. I'm taking orders until August 5th, so I am hoping for more. I would love to get 26 orders so I can get a discount and give more of the money back to the youth group. I'm also planning to set up my own web site soon to advertise the book and I'm going to go to the local paper and get a story about the book. I'm thinking about asking the public library about doing a poetry reading, but Becky thinks that it would bomb. It won't hurt to ask the librarian if they've had any in the past. I know I won't sell a lot of books. Most poets, unless they are the giants, are lucky if they sell hundreds. My goal is to sell at least 50 books between local and online. If I can do that, I will consider myself a success.

My book arrived!

I was working on a project today and decided to take a break.  When I went outside, I noticed a package on my porch and behold, my book had arrived!  I went in and like a kid on Christmas Day, I tore opened the package and started looking through it to make sure everything looked okay.  I can honestly say that Lulu.com did an excellent job putting it together.  It is exactly the way I had designed it.  My book is now on sale at Lulu.com.  All the proceeds are going my church's youth group to help fund their trips and activities.
You can click here to see it and purchase a copy.  

Beautiful Song

Last Sunday, our minister and a member of the choir did a beautiful rendition of Allison Krauss' Down in the River to Pray.  After they got done, everyone gave them a large round of applause.  The song is so beautiful that I wanted to share the original.

The Apostle's Creed Part 1

Today in church, our pastor talked about The Apostle's Creed, more specifically, the first line of the creed:I believe in God, the Father Almighty.  He talked about who God is and how do we believe in God, as individuals.  What does it take to believe in God?  His question is a valid one for Christians as we try to lead a Christian life.  My answer is this: I believe in God because I have felt his prescence in my life.  I have talked to him.  It is my faith that makes me believe.  I have seen things that I know occurred because I prayed for them.  A non-believer may say it must be coincidence, but to me, I know it's not. Faith plays a major role in believing.  One cannot see the physical prescence of wind.  It doesn't have a form. Yet we know the wind blows because we feel the air on our face, we see tree branches move, etc.  However, if we needed to see wind in a visual form, we wouldn't be able to show it because air itself is invisible.  

God is not a biological God.  He's not male or female, but he reveals himself to us in a fatherly form, at least to me.  I fully understand if someone wants to view God in another form, especially if they didn't know their father or didn't have a good fatherly figure in growing up.  Our pastor explained that although a woman has eggs, it takes a male to fertilize the egg, therefore, many people view God in the fatherly role.  I see his point in that.  If someone wants to view God as something other than a father, especially if they've had a bad experience, I am fine with that, as long as they come to know God.  I look forward to his series of sermons as we explore each line in the Apostle Creed.  It definitely made me think today.

Important News

I had planned on posting more this week, but I have been busy.  Between getting materials ready for school and other miscellanous stuff, I had an important project.  That project in question, is the self-publication of my first poetry book entitled: Along Life's Path:Experiences Through Poetry.  The 71-page book is a collection of my poetry taken from parts of my life.  I'm going through Lulu.com to make the book and it will be sold on their site only since I couldn't justify getting the ISBN number since this book will be a small audience. The book isn't up for sale yet because I want to get a copy of the book to make sure the quality is to my liking.  Once I feel comfortable, I will open it up for sale to the public.  I don't plan to make any money on this book, in fact, when I tell fellow church members about the book, I plan on taking orders and just charge an extra amount which I plan to give a good amount back to the church as a donation to either the youth group or seed money for next years VBS.  

This is truly an exciting time and I can't wait to get my copy.