Hey everyone, I'm here in NYC watching the Thanksgiving day parade...errr..I mean football...
What a day! I've got so much to be thankful for this year. What are you thankful for?
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Today, I was welcomed
Well, today, I was finally welcomed to upstate NY. I'm not talking about being welcomed by people. No, no. I was welcomed by the wonderfully slushy roads caused by the superb northeast winter. (do I sound bitter?) My wonderfully bad tires, and light weight car were no match at all for the slushy, snowy, twisty, hilly road they call Day Hallow. The ditch however was ever so thoughtful to catch me and hang on to me until Steve Carter could come to my rescue. (for those who may not have caught that...I lost control on Day Hallow rd., and went in the honkin ditch unable to get out.)
I was pleased to see there were a large amount of people who stopped to see if I needed help. However, it was laughable that all the vehicles that did stop were cars as small as mine (some smaller).
There were a lot of people who stopped to help out though. That was very encouraging. I guess today two things happened.
1.) As previously mentioned, I was welcomed to upstate NY.
2.) By the chosen method of welcoming me to upstate NY, I was proven I'm still a southern boy by coming in contact with the ditch.
I was pleased to see there were a large amount of people who stopped to see if I needed help. However, it was laughable that all the vehicles that did stop were cars as small as mine (some smaller).
There were a lot of people who stopped to help out though. That was very encouraging. I guess today two things happened.
1.) As previously mentioned, I was welcomed to upstate NY.
2.) By the chosen method of welcoming me to upstate NY, I was proven I'm still a southern boy by coming in contact with the ditch.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Grateful Expressions..
I must say, that I am guilty of being grateful for the wrong things on occasions. Well, let me take that back. Not grateful for the wrong things, but I have expressed more gratitude for the wrong things. Does that make sense?? Let me explain.
It's sometimes hard to hide your emotion when you get really really excited or are really thankful for something. For example, have you ever been able to go on a roller coaster you love, and not have a huge smile on your face (prior to getting sick)? Doubtful. Or how about opening a present that you really, really wanted, or really needed and possibly shed a tear because you were so grateful and happy? Rarely. I get really excited if there's a mistake when I go through the drive through and find I was given an extra order of French Fries!
My point is simply this. How easy is it to over look the best gift we have ever or will ever receive. I"m talking about the cross. It's almost as though we don't fully understand the Gospel. We no longer are under the same laws as old testament scripture. I mean, before they could even go and worship God they had to bring a sacrifice of some sort. That may sound simple, but it was a very complicated process. I could only imagine what it would be like.
Walking around one day, and wanting to repent of our sin and worship God. So, immediately I start to think, hmmm, what can I take to the high priest as a sacrifice. So after hours of the constant weight of my sin, and draining mental process of thinking of a sacrifice good enough. I take my sacrifice to the high priest only to hear...."oooohhh, I'm sorry, but this isn't going to work..Come back when you have something better" AAhhHH, WHAT! Get the crap out of here! Now out of anger I go and sin again, and THEN, I have to find a sacrifice to cover the first sin, and because of my jacked up first attempt, I gotta find TWO!
Ok Maybe it didn't look exactly like that, but you get my point. Here's the beauty behind the cross. We no longer have to go through the very narrow process to worship God! We can just say, "Hey!" and we're talking to God. Just say "I'm sorry"and God hears us. Actually no matter what we're doing, we're in His presence. We serve the God of Jacob! We can wrestle with God, we can listen to God, we can seek Gods face! Isn't that flippin awesome! Do we really understand what it means when we say, "The price has been paid!"? Do we understand what was paid when we say, "Jesus, paid it all"? So, if you visualize a cross before you worship, or if your church has a big cross behind the pull pit, do we just think of the name Jesus, or do we think of what Jesus did? Some may even overlook the constant reminder of what that means, and say, oh yeah that's just here cause it's a church. Some may say, "Yeah, Jesus died on the cross." OK, true, but that's wrong. We should say, "YEAH!!! Jesus died on the cross!!!" OK! Do you know what Jesus CHOSE to do for us because He loved us? He became our sacrifice that was taken to the high priest, so because of Him, we can actually worship freely! Because of Him, forgiveness is an easy thing to get! We're not under old testament laws, only though Jesus can we get to God! Look at what it says in John 14:6
It's sometimes hard to hide your emotion when you get really really excited or are really thankful for something. For example, have you ever been able to go on a roller coaster you love, and not have a huge smile on your face (prior to getting sick)? Doubtful. Or how about opening a present that you really, really wanted, or really needed and possibly shed a tear because you were so grateful and happy? Rarely. I get really excited if there's a mistake when I go through the drive through and find I was given an extra order of French Fries!
My point is simply this. How easy is it to over look the best gift we have ever or will ever receive. I"m talking about the cross. It's almost as though we don't fully understand the Gospel. We no longer are under the same laws as old testament scripture. I mean, before they could even go and worship God they had to bring a sacrifice of some sort. That may sound simple, but it was a very complicated process. I could only imagine what it would be like.
Walking around one day, and wanting to repent of our sin and worship God. So, immediately I start to think, hmmm, what can I take to the high priest as a sacrifice. So after hours of the constant weight of my sin, and draining mental process of thinking of a sacrifice good enough. I take my sacrifice to the high priest only to hear...."oooohhh, I'm sorry, but this isn't going to work..Come back when you have something better" AAhhHH, WHAT! Get the crap out of here! Now out of anger I go and sin again, and THEN, I have to find a sacrifice to cover the first sin, and because of my jacked up first attempt, I gotta find TWO!
Ok Maybe it didn't look exactly like that, but you get my point. Here's the beauty behind the cross. We no longer have to go through the very narrow process to worship God! We can just say, "Hey!" and we're talking to God. Just say "I'm sorry"and God hears us. Actually no matter what we're doing, we're in His presence. We serve the God of Jacob! We can wrestle with God, we can listen to God, we can seek Gods face! Isn't that flippin awesome! Do we really understand what it means when we say, "The price has been paid!"? Do we understand what was paid when we say, "Jesus, paid it all"? So, if you visualize a cross before you worship, or if your church has a big cross behind the pull pit, do we just think of the name Jesus, or do we think of what Jesus did? Some may even overlook the constant reminder of what that means, and say, oh yeah that's just here cause it's a church. Some may say, "Yeah, Jesus died on the cross." OK, true, but that's wrong. We should say, "YEAH!!! Jesus died on the cross!!!" OK! Do you know what Jesus CHOSE to do for us because He loved us? He became our sacrifice that was taken to the high priest, so because of Him, we can actually worship freely! Because of Him, forgiveness is an easy thing to get! We're not under old testament laws, only though Jesus can we get to God! Look at what it says in John 14:6
"I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me."
Is that not a reason to get really excited! Is that not a reason to smile, laugh, weep tears of joy, even scream uncontrollably. Do you see it now? The Cross...A Gift! Freedom..A Gift! Repentance...A gift!
How are we expressing gratitude? What are we expressing gratitude in? Do we express more gratitude in free french fries than we do God? What about the gift Jesus chose to give us? Do we really acknowledge it? My grandmother used to threaten to take back my Christmas gifts if I didn't cry. She never did, but could you imagine if that's what Jesus did. Thank goodness our gratitude doesn't really have to look a certain way. We all have different expressions. The only thing we need to do is accept this gift, and be real in however we say thank you.
How are we expressing gratitude? What are we expressing gratitude in? Do we express more gratitude in free french fries than we do God? What about the gift Jesus chose to give us? Do we really acknowledge it? My grandmother used to threaten to take back my Christmas gifts if I didn't cry. She never did, but could you imagine if that's what Jesus did. Thank goodness our gratitude doesn't really have to look a certain way. We all have different expressions. The only thing we need to do is accept this gift, and be real in however we say thank you.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Grrr....!
Ok, so when did puppy's start getting rebellious attitudes...? Seriously, sometimes it feels like I'm raising a rebellious, 13 year old freshman boy in high school trying to fit in with the bad crowd to be noticed. Ok, I know, some of you are thinking...,"really Aaron, it's a dog." But I tell you this, if the dog is not getting her way, and decides to look over her shoulder at you and relieve herself right where she knows she's not supposed to....there's a dog with an attitude. Need another example, ok. She gets mad about something and when you try and talk to her, she ignores you..and this isn't just any "won't look at you", it's like the little boy teasing his sister saying, "I'm not touching yooooouuu!", only she's saying,"I'm not seeing yoooouuu!"
I have a new hero. Cesar Millan aka, the Dog Whisperer.
This guy is awesome! The most undisciplined dogs I've seen are miraculously changed. With one (or two) snap of the finger and one SHH! of his voice, the dog stops and listens.
I must go and watch a couple of more episodes so, I can become a dog whisperer too.
Ok, now that I've vented a little bit, I think I'll go and SHH! Lyla for a little bit.
I have a new hero. Cesar Millan aka, the Dog Whisperer.
This guy is awesome! The most undisciplined dogs I've seen are miraculously changed. With one (or two) snap of the finger and one SHH! of his voice, the dog stops and listens.
I must go and watch a couple of more episodes so, I can become a dog whisperer too.
Ok, now that I've vented a little bit, I think I'll go and SHH! Lyla for a little bit.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Friday, November 7, 2008
Been a while, but we'll give it another whirl!!
Alright, it's been a while since I've blogged. Actually it stopped shortly after I started this blog.?. However, I believe that I am ready to give this another whirl! I shall begin blogging again. I cannot promise that it will be interesting in the slightest, but, there are a lot of things I believe I may be able to blog about.
So, I'll start by updating on what's new with me.
First and foremost, I am now married to this beautiful girl!
We've been married since August 30th, and are now living in the lovely historic district of Owego, NY. and now we have a wonderful, sometimes stupid, puppy.
I'm also working now for a phenomenal church in Endicott call Union Center Christian Church
as the worship arts director.
Alright, now that your updated, blogs will follow.
So, I'll start by updating on what's new with me.
First and foremost, I am now married to this beautiful girl!
We've been married since August 30th, and are now living in the lovely historic district of Owego, NY. and now we have a wonderful, sometimes stupid, puppy.
I'm also working now for a phenomenal church in Endicott call Union Center Christian Church
as the worship arts director.
Alright, now that your updated, blogs will follow.
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