Well, tomorrow is Super Bowl Sunday - at least that is how Tommy refers to Easter - "The Super Bowl of Christianity". I can't remember a time that I've been this excited about Easter Sunday. It actually means something to me this year.
We are really hopeful for a huge turnout for the service at ICC and Brandon has really picked out some rocking tunes for the service. I'm totally psyched about playing tomorrow, how could I not be, besides it being the Super Bowl, we're opening the service with some Social Distortion ("Ball And Chain") - one of my favorite punk bands of all time.
Thank you Jesus for all you did for us! You really do rock!
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Been A Few Weeks...
I found out quickly how easy it is to get away from blogging on a regular basis. I'll just say that this has been a rough month for me. Despite the recent "Heroes" series at ICC which talked about not giving up, I have felt like giving up on my electrician career just about every day this month. I don't know what it is, but I just have so much doubt about my competancy and physical stamina to do this job. The calls aren't coming in like they normally do and when I do work, I literally take a physical beating.
The worst part is that I know I shouldn't feel bad about these things. I mean, in over 15 months of working as an electrician, I have not received any complaints or encountered many problems that I wasn't able to overcome. It just seems like every job is a major pain in the butt lately and I just don't feel like dealing with it. I also feel like I'm just not charging people enough for my work, which sucks for both of us. As much as I hated sitting at a desk for 8 hours a day, at least I was able to deal with the majority of problems that arose or quickly find someone who knew the answers to my questions.
To make matters worse, I started working on a Walgreen's Pharmacy with an old friend of mine last week. He has been an electrician for almost 20 years and really knows his stuff. I have no idea how he is able to make sense out of all the electrical systems that are involved in a new commercial building. I walked in there last Monday and just felt totally lost. I had no idea what to do and I feel like a moron in comparison to this guy. I realize that this is an experience thing but it's still frustrating all the same. I need to be grateful for this opportunity to learn from yet another skilled electrician.
Dena and my family all want me to hang in there and I know Jesus wants me to hang in there so I'm going to keep at it for now. I hope I can get my head and heart in line with them ASAP.
The worst part is that I know I shouldn't feel bad about these things. I mean, in over 15 months of working as an electrician, I have not received any complaints or encountered many problems that I wasn't able to overcome. It just seems like every job is a major pain in the butt lately and I just don't feel like dealing with it. I also feel like I'm just not charging people enough for my work, which sucks for both of us. As much as I hated sitting at a desk for 8 hours a day, at least I was able to deal with the majority of problems that arose or quickly find someone who knew the answers to my questions.
To make matters worse, I started working on a Walgreen's Pharmacy with an old friend of mine last week. He has been an electrician for almost 20 years and really knows his stuff. I have no idea how he is able to make sense out of all the electrical systems that are involved in a new commercial building. I walked in there last Monday and just felt totally lost. I had no idea what to do and I feel like a moron in comparison to this guy. I realize that this is an experience thing but it's still frustrating all the same. I need to be grateful for this opportunity to learn from yet another skilled electrician.
Dena and my family all want me to hang in there and I know Jesus wants me to hang in there so I'm going to keep at it for now. I hope I can get my head and heart in line with them ASAP.
Monday, March 3, 2008
A Really Great Question
During our small group meeting last night, one of the group members posed the following question to me which has had me thinking about it ever since. "How could you ever choose not to have God as a part of your life and what made you change your mind?"
I'm finding it very difficult to answer this question. I really think that my decision to not make God a part of my life until now was more an issue of pride than anything else. I've been something of a loner for the majority of my adult life and I guess I didn't feel that I needed His help and that I could do it on my own. And even if He was there to help me, how could I know for sure? I'm pretty certain that I was not in the minority among those who do not have God in their lives when it came to my skepticism.
As for what made me change my mind, again, I am having a hard time definitively answering this question. The past few years of my life have been a roller-coaster ride. Problems with depression, my marriage, my family, my career, etc. have pretty much defined my thirty's. I hit bottom many times during that time and experienced very few truly happy moments.
I can only say that I just think I was just ready to give God a chance. It also helped that He pretty much dropped Tommy and ICC on my doorstep. ICC literally meets less than a half-mile from my house and everything about the church fits what I'm about - cool, hard-working, faithful, "normal" people who are trying to make Jesus a part of the lives of those who have either lost faith in or have never had a relationship with Him. They are literally removing all the "crap" from what I have experienced with church in the past - this is a come-as-you-are church that focuses only on the only things that matter - His word and making it part of your everyday life. I just can't imagine being in a better situation than I am at this very moment.
I'm finding it very difficult to answer this question. I really think that my decision to not make God a part of my life until now was more an issue of pride than anything else. I've been something of a loner for the majority of my adult life and I guess I didn't feel that I needed His help and that I could do it on my own. And even if He was there to help me, how could I know for sure? I'm pretty certain that I was not in the minority among those who do not have God in their lives when it came to my skepticism.
As for what made me change my mind, again, I am having a hard time definitively answering this question. The past few years of my life have been a roller-coaster ride. Problems with depression, my marriage, my family, my career, etc. have pretty much defined my thirty's. I hit bottom many times during that time and experienced very few truly happy moments.
I can only say that I just think I was just ready to give God a chance. It also helped that He pretty much dropped Tommy and ICC on my doorstep. ICC literally meets less than a half-mile from my house and everything about the church fits what I'm about - cool, hard-working, faithful, "normal" people who are trying to make Jesus a part of the lives of those who have either lost faith in or have never had a relationship with Him. They are literally removing all the "crap" from what I have experienced with church in the past - this is a come-as-you-are church that focuses only on the only things that matter - His word and making it part of your everyday life. I just can't imagine being in a better situation than I am at this very moment.
What A Great Week!
I was doing some thinking last night - I'm sure the smoke could be seen for miles - I really had an awesome week last week (2/22-3/2)!
Even though I had a small car accident on the ice on 2/22 - I plowed over this guy's mailbox on the way to my sister's house - and business is still pretty slow right now, I got to spend plenty of time with my family (dinner at Joe's Crab Shack for my sister's b-day - yum! and lunch at my mom and dad's on Wednesday with my 2-year old nephew, Walker - he's a riot!), rocked the ICC church service twice, had a great lunch with Tommy, led our small group meeting twice, both cars passed inspection, had dinner with my good buddy Greg and his wife, and ICC had it's best attendance yet - my mom put us over the top :) Not too bad if you ask me.
The topper for the week was that Tommy asked me if I was ready to be baptized. I was like "heck yea!". My baptism is scheduled for 4/20 following the church service. I'm really psyched up about it!
I'm 100% certain that a year ago, I would have been so consumed with the fact that business is slow that I wouldn't have noticed most, if any of these great things. God is really working some cool stuff in my life! I really think 2008 is going to be a great year!
Even though I had a small car accident on the ice on 2/22 - I plowed over this guy's mailbox on the way to my sister's house - and business is still pretty slow right now, I got to spend plenty of time with my family (dinner at Joe's Crab Shack for my sister's b-day - yum! and lunch at my mom and dad's on Wednesday with my 2-year old nephew, Walker - he's a riot!), rocked the ICC church service twice, had a great lunch with Tommy, led our small group meeting twice, both cars passed inspection, had dinner with my good buddy Greg and his wife, and ICC had it's best attendance yet - my mom put us over the top :) Not too bad if you ask me.
The topper for the week was that Tommy asked me if I was ready to be baptized. I was like "heck yea!". My baptism is scheduled for 4/20 following the church service. I'm really psyched up about it!
I'm 100% certain that a year ago, I would have been so consumed with the fact that business is slow that I wouldn't have noticed most, if any of these great things. God is really working some cool stuff in my life! I really think 2008 is going to be a great year!
Saturday, March 1, 2008
So, Do You Wanna Play?
I'm getting pretty close to wrapping up my adventure to present, but it definitely wouldn't be complete without talking about the ICC Worship Band (for lack of a better name). I have been playing guitar since 1992 or 1993. I started out on guitar at a fairly late age and really only picked it up to have fun and emulate my guitar heroes (Bob Mould, Ace Frehley, Angus Young, Johnny Ramone, et. al.).
From our many conversations, Tommy knew that I played and that I was very shy about playing in front of people. Early on, the worship band line-up was very inconsistent at best. One week they'd have a five piece band and then one guy playing guitar or piano and singing alone the next. They really needed help in this area but I still wasn't sure if it was something I wanted to do or not - I've got this terrible fear of screwing up and looking like an idiot. Even though he'd never heard me play, Tommy kept nudging me a bit about it every time we'd meet and I finally gave in sometime in November.
I wish I could say that my first time out was perfect but it wasn't. The guys were late and I didn't have time to learn the songs just by running through them during the pre-service rehearsal. After all, these guys are trained musicians - in comparison, I'm a novice at best. Being me, I got mad, picked up my gear and left. It wasn't so much that I didn't get to play but that they had been asking for people to step up and when I finally did, they were late - it was just a big let down for me because I can't read music and can't jump in on songs I'm not familiar with like they would be able to. I'll chalk that one up to growing pains of a new church and a new Christian.
I was ready to give up on the worship band but Tommy and Brandon (now the Worship Leader) talked me in to giving it another go. If I remember correctly, it was just Brandon and me the following week - him on piano and vocals and me banging away on Dena's acoustic guitar. I was far from perfect but no one seemed to notice my mistakes and I had a blast. Who would have thought that my first live performance would be at church - certainly not me.
To make a long story short, even though there have been some set-backs here and there, I have been playing in the worship band ever since that day and have no intentions of giving it up any time soon. It's so much fun to be able to make music with the other guys and to do it in the name of Jesus. We do it loud too! ICC isn't exactly your typical church. We rock it out and, on most weeks, even throw in a secular song that relates to the message.
I think the coolest things about my experience in the worship band are that I have become a much better guitarist and playing is really fun for me again - not that I ever lost interest in it but it just kind of got boring only playing along to CDs in my room. Like I said, these guys (we now have a full band on a regular basis) are real musicians and I have to get better if I want to keep up with them. I probably practice more than I ever have before. I'm sure that The Holy Spirit is at least a little responsible for that. I have also become pretty good friends with Brandon. He's really growing into a quality band/worship leader and I have already learned a lot from him. He always listens when I make suggestions and always takes the time to help me out when I have questions about the music. He's a good guy.
I'm very grateful that Tommy kept on me about playing in the band and staying in the band on at least two occasions. I'm pretty sure that he could talk me in to buying beach front property in the mid-west. He's pretty slick like that. I can't wait to play on Sunday morning!
From our many conversations, Tommy knew that I played and that I was very shy about playing in front of people. Early on, the worship band line-up was very inconsistent at best. One week they'd have a five piece band and then one guy playing guitar or piano and singing alone the next. They really needed help in this area but I still wasn't sure if it was something I wanted to do or not - I've got this terrible fear of screwing up and looking like an idiot. Even though he'd never heard me play, Tommy kept nudging me a bit about it every time we'd meet and I finally gave in sometime in November.
I wish I could say that my first time out was perfect but it wasn't. The guys were late and I didn't have time to learn the songs just by running through them during the pre-service rehearsal. After all, these guys are trained musicians - in comparison, I'm a novice at best. Being me, I got mad, picked up my gear and left. It wasn't so much that I didn't get to play but that they had been asking for people to step up and when I finally did, they were late - it was just a big let down for me because I can't read music and can't jump in on songs I'm not familiar with like they would be able to. I'll chalk that one up to growing pains of a new church and a new Christian.
I was ready to give up on the worship band but Tommy and Brandon (now the Worship Leader) talked me in to giving it another go. If I remember correctly, it was just Brandon and me the following week - him on piano and vocals and me banging away on Dena's acoustic guitar. I was far from perfect but no one seemed to notice my mistakes and I had a blast. Who would have thought that my first live performance would be at church - certainly not me.
To make a long story short, even though there have been some set-backs here and there, I have been playing in the worship band ever since that day and have no intentions of giving it up any time soon. It's so much fun to be able to make music with the other guys and to do it in the name of Jesus. We do it loud too! ICC isn't exactly your typical church. We rock it out and, on most weeks, even throw in a secular song that relates to the message.
I think the coolest things about my experience in the worship band are that I have become a much better guitarist and playing is really fun for me again - not that I ever lost interest in it but it just kind of got boring only playing along to CDs in my room. Like I said, these guys (we now have a full band on a regular basis) are real musicians and I have to get better if I want to keep up with them. I probably practice more than I ever have before. I'm sure that The Holy Spirit is at least a little responsible for that. I have also become pretty good friends with Brandon. He's really growing into a quality band/worship leader and I have already learned a lot from him. He always listens when I make suggestions and always takes the time to help me out when I have questions about the music. He's a good guy.
I'm very grateful that Tommy kept on me about playing in the band and staying in the band on at least two occasions. I'm pretty sure that he could talk me in to buying beach front property in the mid-west. He's pretty slick like that. I can't wait to play on Sunday morning!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
