No, I haven't changed jobs again. Last Thursday, I got a peculiar e-mail from Tommy indicating that he had a "proposal" for me which he would speak to me about on Sunday. After confirming that it wasn't a marriage proposal, I speculated that maybe Brandon had decided not to return to ICC as worship leader.
After Sunday's service in North Park (which was awesome), I approached Tommy about his proposal, but he said I'd have to wait on a few things before we talked. About two hours later I received a call from Brandon and, as I speculated, he passed the torch to me. He feels that God is leading him in another direction and that it was time for him to move on. Even though I will miss playing with him and seeing him regularly, I am really excited about this opportunity to continue to lead the worship band on a full-time basis. God never ceases to amaze me in the ways He works. I have gone from not going to church at all, to worship band member, to worship leader in 14 months time.
God has obviously been planning this for a long time and I took some time to reflect on one of my biggest passions this week. I can remember playing records (yes I am that old) with my sister on my dad's old stereo (which had an 8-track player), really getting into music when I was in seventh grade with the guidance of my uncle Jimmy, becoming obsessed with bands like Van Halen, Kiss and Rush, going to the first of dozens of concerts in 1985, driving mom and dad crazy with the racket coming out of my room, finally picking up a guitar in 1992 after years of wanting to play, playing along with my favorite CD's night after night, and finally getting the guts to play in front of people last fall (with a lot of prodding from Tommy).
I guess music truly is my gift and what God wants me to do at ICC. I am so psyched about this opportunity to help my friend grow the church, help bring people into a relationship with Jesus and glorify God all at the same time. It's not all that profound, but all I can say is WOW!
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Saturday, August 9, 2008
My New Gig
Well, after months of praying about it, investigating other options, arguing with Dena about it, and having an opportunity present itself, I have decided to become a semi-retired electrician.
Back in June, I decided to send a resume' to Accountemps just to see what they could do for me. It took about a month, but they were able to place me in an office position with a pharmacy about five miles north of my home. The company contracts with various nursing homes and assisted living homes in the region to provide their residents with all their pharmaceutical needs each month. I am working in the billing department, something that I did for ten years prior to becoming an electrician.
I started with them three weeks ago, and I must say that I am quickly learning what needs to be done and am very happy so far. The job requires a lot of analysis of reports and can get a little boring, but I have had more than my share of excitement at work over the past year and a half. I have no delusion of grandeur this time - I just want to do a good job for them and go home to do the things that really matter to me. It's a very casual atmosphere and my co-workers all seem like they're pretty cool - I even worked with one of them for a time about four years ago. I have my own office, although it doubles as a makeshift kitchenette - which is okay because I get to at least say hi to every one who comes in the room. I get to listen to my tunes all day long too.
My favorite part about the job (besides the five mile commute and wearing jeans and a t-shirt to work), however, is that I am utilizing my lunch break to dig into God's word. Anybody who knows me, knows that I devour books at a rate of about one every ten years. I'm just not much of reader and have really been slacking on reading my Bible since Tommy and I got so busy that we can't meet as regularly as we once did. Not anymore. I have spent at least 15-20 minutes each day just reading and digesting what I have read. What an awesome fringe benefit!
I have even been afforded the opportunity of doing a little ministering already. I'm sure everyone noticed that I was usually carrying either my Bible study workbook or my Bible with me and I made it a point to keep them visible on my desk in the hope that someone might ask me about my faith. I even prayed with my small group about that very thing.
Well, that prayer was answered this week when one of my co-workers and I struck up a conversation about tattoos of all things (my next tattoo is going to be a cross and crown of thorns), which led into a discussion about my faith, ICC and Christians in general. She has the same fears and doubts about church and Christians as I did before I found ICC. She wants to have a closer relationship with God but she just can't seem to find a place where she fits in - sounds familiar. I invited her to come to ICC, shared a bit about the "More Jesus, Less Crap" philosophy and directed her to their web-site and to my blog. After spending a little time doing some investigation, she was totally psyched about it and said she would try to make it this Sunday! I'm praying that she will be able to attend. At the very least, she will be able to check out the messages that Tommy has posted on the web-site.
To sum up, I just want to say that I am very grateful for this new opportunity that God has placed before me. Along with the steady paycheck I was looking for, it's providing me with time to read my Bible, the opportunity to share my faith with others, and the energy to get involved in and stay involved in the areas of the church where He has led me. That's pretty awesome stuff in only three weeks on the job!
Not getting shocked as often is a pretty good thing too!
Back in June, I decided to send a resume' to Accountemps just to see what they could do for me. It took about a month, but they were able to place me in an office position with a pharmacy about five miles north of my home. The company contracts with various nursing homes and assisted living homes in the region to provide their residents with all their pharmaceutical needs each month. I am working in the billing department, something that I did for ten years prior to becoming an electrician.
I started with them three weeks ago, and I must say that I am quickly learning what needs to be done and am very happy so far. The job requires a lot of analysis of reports and can get a little boring, but I have had more than my share of excitement at work over the past year and a half. I have no delusion of grandeur this time - I just want to do a good job for them and go home to do the things that really matter to me. It's a very casual atmosphere and my co-workers all seem like they're pretty cool - I even worked with one of them for a time about four years ago. I have my own office, although it doubles as a makeshift kitchenette - which is okay because I get to at least say hi to every one who comes in the room. I get to listen to my tunes all day long too.
My favorite part about the job (besides the five mile commute and wearing jeans and a t-shirt to work), however, is that I am utilizing my lunch break to dig into God's word. Anybody who knows me, knows that I devour books at a rate of about one every ten years. I'm just not much of reader and have really been slacking on reading my Bible since Tommy and I got so busy that we can't meet as regularly as we once did. Not anymore. I have spent at least 15-20 minutes each day just reading and digesting what I have read. What an awesome fringe benefit!
I have even been afforded the opportunity of doing a little ministering already. I'm sure everyone noticed that I was usually carrying either my Bible study workbook or my Bible with me and I made it a point to keep them visible on my desk in the hope that someone might ask me about my faith. I even prayed with my small group about that very thing.
Well, that prayer was answered this week when one of my co-workers and I struck up a conversation about tattoos of all things (my next tattoo is going to be a cross and crown of thorns), which led into a discussion about my faith, ICC and Christians in general. She has the same fears and doubts about church and Christians as I did before I found ICC. She wants to have a closer relationship with God but she just can't seem to find a place where she fits in - sounds familiar. I invited her to come to ICC, shared a bit about the "More Jesus, Less Crap" philosophy and directed her to their web-site and to my blog. After spending a little time doing some investigation, she was totally psyched about it and said she would try to make it this Sunday! I'm praying that she will be able to attend. At the very least, she will be able to check out the messages that Tommy has posted on the web-site.
To sum up, I just want to say that I am very grateful for this new opportunity that God has placed before me. Along with the steady paycheck I was looking for, it's providing me with time to read my Bible, the opportunity to share my faith with others, and the energy to get involved in and stay involved in the areas of the church where He has led me. That's pretty awesome stuff in only three weeks on the job!
Not getting shocked as often is a pretty good thing too!
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Holding Down The Fort
Well, "Guns 'n' Moses" is on a temporary hiatus. All the guys but me are involved in some sort of activity that will keep them away from ICC for the duration of the summer. With Brandon working as a counselor at a camp in North Carolina, I, with Dena's assistance, have assumed the role of temporary worship leader. I was really nervous about it, but two weeks in, I can only say that things are going way better than I had expected.
Dena sang while I accompanied her on guitar last Sunday and our friend Sami joined us to sing this week. We will probably have another guitarist/vocalist join us this week too. Everyone has been really supportive and I think they are really impressed with the job we're doing so far.
Dena and I are trying to keep in mind that we are doing this to glorify God and it doesn't really matter if we make a mistake here and there, which is what worried me the most the first week. I got pretty comfortable playing with a full band that could cover many of the mistakes I made, but I think this experience is going to give me the opportunity to continue to improve as a guitarist.
I can't believe that only one year ago I had absolutely no intention of going to church and now here I am leading worship. I can't even begin to imagine what He has in store for me next.
Dena sang while I accompanied her on guitar last Sunday and our friend Sami joined us to sing this week. We will probably have another guitarist/vocalist join us this week too. Everyone has been really supportive and I think they are really impressed with the job we're doing so far.
Dena and I are trying to keep in mind that we are doing this to glorify God and it doesn't really matter if we make a mistake here and there, which is what worried me the most the first week. I got pretty comfortable playing with a full band that could cover many of the mistakes I made, but I think this experience is going to give me the opportunity to continue to improve as a guitarist.
I can't believe that only one year ago I had absolutely no intention of going to church and now here I am leading worship. I can't even begin to imagine what He has in store for me next.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Indiana Jones
Dena and I did a couple of new things today, but I want to talk specifically about our first trip to the movies in quite some time. Following a lot of excitement about the new Indiana Jones movie, I asked Dena if she would like to go see it this evening. I've always been a big fan of the first three movies and figured that this one would at least be on par with those pictures.
The movie was decent enough but nowhere close to any of the first three installments of the series. The humor and action were there, the characters were good, but the plot was far too fantastical. It seemed liked they put special effects in just to put effects in. A little bit of a disappointment in both Dena's and my opinions.
All in all, I expect way more from George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. My advice is see it at a matinee showing or wait for the DVD. Better yet, save your money and put it towards the new DVD releases of the original movies or towards the upcoming Lego Indiana Jones video game, which if it's anything like the Lego Star Wars games, will provide hours and hours of entertainment.
The movie was decent enough but nowhere close to any of the first three installments of the series. The humor and action were there, the characters were good, but the plot was far too fantastical. It seemed liked they put special effects in just to put effects in. A little bit of a disappointment in both Dena's and my opinions.
All in all, I expect way more from George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. My advice is see it at a matinee showing or wait for the DVD. Better yet, save your money and put it towards the new DVD releases of the original movies or towards the upcoming Lego Indiana Jones video game, which if it's anything like the Lego Star Wars games, will provide hours and hours of entertainment.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
New Glasses
I need to share something really cool with all of my loyal eyeglass-wearing readers. I am sick and tired of paying $200 or more for a pair of glasses that only end up getting scratched or destroyed. As an electrician, I have been through 3 pair of glasses in the last year. If I'm not getting hit in the face with a light fixture or getting my head stuck in a ceiling, I'm getting covered with drywall or concrete dust which ends up messing up my lenses when I try to wipe them off.
I found a really cool web-site that offers glasses that they manufacture at a more than reasonable rate and they are actually better quality than I ever could have imagined. I got two pair of regular prescription glasses and a pair of prescription sunglasses for $60. That's right, $60!!!!!
If you wear glasses, do yourself a favor and check out http://zennioptical.com/cart/home.php. You just need to get a copy of your prescription, pick out some frames that you like, and enter the info. I got my new glasses in 12 days. I'm more than impressed with these guys and I can see again!!!
I found a really cool web-site that offers glasses that they manufacture at a more than reasonable rate and they are actually better quality than I ever could have imagined. I got two pair of regular prescription glasses and a pair of prescription sunglasses for $60. That's right, $60!!!!!
If you wear glasses, do yourself a favor and check out http://zennioptical.com/cart/home.php. You just need to get a copy of your prescription, pick out some frames that you like, and enter the info. I got my new glasses in 12 days. I'm more than impressed with these guys and I can see again!!!
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Monday, April 21, 2008
Reborn!
On Sunday, I took the next step in my walk with Jesus. Following an abbreviated service, my pastor and good friend, Tommy, baptized me along with 3 other members of ICC. The water was pretty cold (look at my face in the top photo) but it was truly an amazing experience that I will never forget. It was even more special to me because 15 of my family members, including 8 from Ohio, attended the service and we had close to 40 people over to the house for a celebratory luncheon, which despite Dena's anxiety, could not have gone more perfectly.
The band (we're unofficially using the moniker "Guns n' Moses" until we come up with something better), rocked the service again despite problems with a new sound system. Definitely not our best gig, but the energy of the day more than made up for what we were lacking in sound quality.
I can't wait to see what God has in store for me next! If it's anything like the last 8 months have been, I'm sure it's going to be something pretty awesome.
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