It's time To Jump On the Bandwagon

This being the last hour of the last day of November it's time for me to be thankful for the people in my life. There are a lot of times I think I have the best friends in the world and that they would be there if I needed them. There are people in my life that has had a profound impact on who I am and what I will become in the future. To those people I say thank you and know that I have the utmost love for you and what you have helped me to become. 

You know sometimes it's the little things in life

You know sometimes its the small things in life you have to be thankful for. Lately my life has been pulling me in a lot of different directions. Not that I am complaining or anything, I love every minute. There are somethings in life that are becoming a constant and I am very pleased with that. As of late I have been having lunch with a friend a couple times a week. We have been talking a lot and have been helping each other in a number of different ways. Again today we are having lunch and am very much looking forward to it....So, today I am thankful for the renewed friendship I have found in her.

Thanks for reading,
-W

LOVE PART 3

I know, I know there is a lot of love going on around here....On Friday my dear Erica Blevins Nye had a baby girl...She will make a wonderful mother...My Friend Becky's dog is undergoing surgery today...I know she is concerned. There are a lot of people praying (even though I am not the biggest fan of dogs) for her and her dog.....So today I am thankful for Erica and her new baby....and the power of communal prayer...

LOVE Part 2

Today i am thankful for the love of my friends and the love they have for each other. Recently found out a couple of good friends got engaged.....I am so happy for them and the life they are going to lead together. They have been together for a while and am happy they have decided to make it forever.... So, here's to love that will last a lifetime.

Love....

Today I am thankful for the fact that I get to preach at limerick in the morning...They are such good people....wish me luck...

It was fun...

Last Night I went to Walmart to take photos of the people shopping for the items they could not live with out. There were an estimated 2,500 people at this store for the 10 p.m. sales. It was interesting to watch the people as they tried to get the best position for their item. So, today I am thankful for my life and the fact that I was able to walk away from this madness with it.....

When you don't have the thing you want the most.

Today I am thankful for Diet Coke. The Coke machine ran out of Diet Coke today and from what I here the machine rarely gets filled up. So that news became devastating today at around 2 p.m. when I wanted one.....So I was thankful that someone went out and got me one....So, today I am thankful for Diet Coke...

What a day....

In a way I kind of dislike holidays. When it comes to work it causes me to have a short week and I have to cram more work into a shorter time. Most weeks I feel I do not have enough time to get every thing finished that needs to be finished. But it is nice to have some time off even if it is just for a day. Today I give thanks for the free time I have any given day.....even if it is for five minutes.

Today I give thanks....

Today I give thanks for the TV series LOST....I am half way through watching the series again...it has become an unhealthy obsession......

Today I am Thankful for...

Today i am thankful for the fact that I am moving. It's officials I will be moving to a different house throughout the course of this week, and will be officially moved in by next Monday. Granted it's just down the street from my current house but it is much bigger and provides a much needed change of perspective..... 

Yesterday and Today....

Yesterday and Today I am thankful for.....The church....Tomorrow I am presiding over the morning service. That is kind of fun and exciting at the same time.....I've seen it done a million times but never got the opportunity to do it. We will see how it goes.....Wish me luck.

Today I am thankful for....

Today I am thankful for....no shave November.....One of the things I hate in life is shaving....So no shave November is a good thing. But I think I am close to giving up....

Not finding the motivation

So I started this book a month or so ago and have not found the motivation to get that far into it yet. Not sure what the cause of that is but I need to get into it. There are a number of books that are calling for my attention......Tonight I am going to photograph the annual Christmas Parade....that should be interesting because it's going to be really cold.....I also hope to have some exciting news in the next couple of days.....stay tuned.

Today I am Thankful for.....

Today I am thankful for....Rain.

Today I am thankful for the rain that's been falling the last couple of day. Today I was talking around in the rain for a little bit and my socks got wet, to the point where it was annoying. It was to the point where I had to buy some more socks to keep the sanity for the rest of the day. So the lesson learned today is that it's the small things in life that you get used to....that can sometimes annoy you the most.

Showing thanks....

Today I am Thankful for....my Job and the people I get to meet as a result. today I got to meet a couple of cool people....

I got two books....

Recently I ordered three books from Amazon.com and got two of them in the mail over the weekend. I of the books I ordered was for the E3 class in January and of course that was the one that did not come in. I am excited to read the other books though.....I will keep you posted how it goes. 

Showing thanks....

Today I am thankful for....My Car. Since I've been driving I've had a number of cars for a number of reasons. Most of the reasons include running a couple of cars of them to death. So I am indeed thankful for all of the cars Ive had and the one I have because I have come to depend on it so much....

Today I am Thankful for...

Today I am thankful for......Fall Sr. High Retreat 2011. It was evident the spirit of God was with us every step of the way this weekend and the fact he saw us home safely was great....There are lots of things going on this weekend so, until next time.....

Today I am Thankful for...

Today I am thankful for... the love and peace of Jesus Christ that's in abundance at Camp Bountiful this weekend.....

Today I am thankful for....

Today I am thankful for.....All of the food fun and fellowship that awaits us at Sr. High Retreat......

Well I did it....

Well I did it....

I have been putting off the idea of Seminary long enough....Today I officially made an inquiry about what it would take for me to enroll in a masters program, in Community of Christ Seminary. Who knows if I will even get in, but its worth a shot............I will keep you posted.   

Today I am thankful for.....Getting to go to Sr. High Retreat.....I am so excited about what lies ahead....

Today I am Thankful for...

Today I am Thankful for...getting to have lunch with a good friend that lasted 15 minutes. We both walked away from the conversation felling better about the world......

Today I am Thankful for...

Toady I am thankful for....this democracy that we call America and the fact that today is election day in Ohio

Today I am thankful for...

Today I am thankful for...dry shoes

This morning when I came to work you could here a sound from the basement that sounded like someone was taking a shower. There is a show in the basement but it had not been used in a couple of years. Well, it turns out someone had tried to steal a copper pipe. The pipe they cut was caring water. So after stealing the pipe that would get them a dollar or two from the scrap yard. They left water spewing every where, me and a couple of other employees when down to check it out. At that point it was a quarter inch deep. So Today I am thankful for dry shoes......

Today I am thankful for...

Today I am thankful for.....the ability to stand up in front a room full of people and preach to them without throwing up....(that has not always been the case.)

My Sermon

This is the sermon I delivered this morning at West Portsmouth.....


Good Morning,

I bring you greetings from the Pleasant Valley Congregation. We held our business meeting last week and I am happy to inform you that our leadership will not change in 2012.
As many of you are aware the church now has five mission initiatives that are designed to help focus our mission and purpose to a world that desperately need to here what we have to say. The world also needs to here our story and discover what we have to offer as a Community.
One of my favorite initiatives is Abolish Poverty, End Suffering.
Let me explain why, this initiative has so much potential and drive behind that it excites me to see where the church will take it.
The church describes the initiative as, "We are poised to be Christ’s hands and feet, reaching out through compassionate ministries that serve the poor and hungry and stop conditions that diminish the worth of persons."
What would happen you all would make the commitment and say we as the West Portsmouth Community of Christ are going to take the next year and embrace this initiative.
I can tell you with confidence if you all would make that commitment this community would be changed for the better.
If you don't mind, let me share with you some of the reasons I believe this is the time to embrace this initiative.
In 2010, more than one in six Ohioans were served by emergency food assistance between July and September. Of those, more than a quarter-million were Ohio elders. In December of that same year, 19.8% of Ohioans reported that there had been times in the past 12 months when they did not have enough money to buy food that they or their family needed.
The official poverty rate for the U.S. in 2010 was 15.1 percent. According to the Census Bureau; the poverty rate is the highest its been since 1993.
Ohio’s Poverty rate is 15.3 percent.
“In the 20 counties that we serve, 1 in 4 kids are food insecure, which means they do not know where their next meal is coming from, and that’s very disheartening,” said Kurt Reiber, president of the Freestore Foodbank of Cincinnati.
Food insecurity refers to the availability of food and access to it. Those who are considered food insecure do not know when they will have their next meal. Many in low or fixed income situations are food insecure, often forced to choose between purchasing food or paying for rent or utilities. The increasing cost of living coupled with the downturn in the economy has forced a growing numbers of the middle class to utilize emergency food assistance.
In 2010, 48.8 million Americans lived in food insecure households, 32.6 million adults and 16.2 million children.
In 2010, 14.5 percent of households (17.2 million households) were food insecure.
One of the ideas we are kicking around at the pleasant Valley branch is partnering with the Northwest School District to start and implement a backpack program.
If we proceed with this idea it would allow the children to take a backpack home every weekend filled with food. This would in some ways ensure the child and their family has something to eat.
There are some cases in this county when students bring home food from school they have to hide it. So, their parents to do find it, if they find it they will sell it for drugs.
At pleasant valley we are beginning to understand what is said in,  D&C 163---
4 a. God, the Eternal Creator, weeps for the poor, displaced, mistreated, and diseased of the world because of their unnecessary suffering. Such conditions are not God’s will. Open your ears to hear the pleading of mothers and fathers in all nations who desperately seek a future of hope for their children. Do not turn away from them. For in their welfare resides your welfare.
 
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Finally I would like to share with you one of the ministries I hold close to my heart.
For the last two years I have served as the co-President of the Scioto County Habitat for Humanity.
This is an exciting time for Habitat, In the past year in a half we have completed 3 homes for those who would otherwise not be able to experience the joys of homeowner ship.
Within the next month or so we will break ground for what will be our 10th house as an organization.
That, my friends is an exciting time for us. That 10th house will be in this community of West Portsmouth.
We are in final negations to purchase a lot of Lincoln Street.
We already have a family picked out for this home. They are more than excited about the idea of owning a habitat home.
To this provides a unique opportunity for this branch to own this project.
What if, the West Portsmouth Community of Christ said every saturday we would provide a meal for the crew. Or, what if, the West Portsmouth Community of Christ said this is the way we are going to embrace the mission initiative Abolish Poverty, End Suffering, by helping this family's dream become closer to a reality.
We all know the challenges we are facing as a community. I believe in these challenges we can find opportunity.

We can find opportunity to live out some of the new mission Initiatives that calls us into greater community. A community that’s united by the one that calls us all together.

I leave you with one of my favorite quotes given by a church official. Grant McMurray former profit and president of the church once said in an address to a world conference,
“Our belief in community is founded upon our sure knowledge that the God in me seeks the God in you and that it is when we have encountered that divine reality at the very center of our faith that we finally, truly, know one another.”

As we move forward my we be rest assured of the peace of Jesus Christ is alive and well in our lives, in our community and in our church,

Again I thank you for the opportunity to share with you today.

 
   

Today I Am Thankful for.....

The quite among the noise......

Today was a good day....

Today was a good day...I was able to reconnect with a good friend in a way that made us better friends in the end....Am praying for the success of Jr. High Retreat....Am preaching at West Portsmouth this Sunday...kind of excited about that, it's been a while since I've gotten to share for the pulpit.... 

Today I am thankful for...

Today I am thankful for music.....lately I have kind of been in a down and out mood....Not quite sure why, but it's what ever. Yesterday I was able to download some new music and it lifted my spirits and things have gotten better. I guess I just needed some new sounds in my life. 

Today I am thankful for...

Today I am thankful for....FRUSTRATION.

For some reason there has been a lot of frustration in my life. Through the frustration I have been working to centering myself with the idea there are other things I need to spend my time on...

So I've been thinking.....

So, I've been thinking a lot about Graduate School as of late or Seminary......Wounder what that means?

Being Thankful....

I guess there is a movement on Facebook to everyday during the month of November to share something you are thankful for. Toady is November 2nd, so i will share two things I am thankful for.
I am thankful for my computer. As I shared with you before I am currently watch my way through lost...Today I am thankful for the Sun...even through it's somewhat cold out. We can be rest assured that it will be a good day because the sun has been shining. 

A prediction that's come true

Well, as predicted I have purchased the second season of LOST. I purchased it on Sunday and am already 2 disks into it. There are seven disks in the set. We will see how it goes.....