Come Alive!

The impact of a person doing what God created them specifically to do is a powerful thing. I got to be on the receiving end of that recently, so I thought I would share it with you. This past weekend I had a great little road trip/getaway with 2 good friends, Alison and Blackwell. One of Blackwell’s old roommates is a chef who now owns 2 restaurants in the mountains of Georgia, and he invited Blackwell to bring a couple of friends up to visit. So Saturday we took him up on the offer and made the 3 1/2 hour drive to Clarkesville. We arrived at lunchtime and met Jeremy at the first of the restaurants, Hawg Wild BBQ. Jeremy welcomed us, sat us down, and proceeded to have us brought out what must have been almost every item on the menu! Ribs, pulled pork, catfish, slaw, beans, sweet potato casserole, hushpuppies, and more. He was like a kid showing off a new toy… telling us about each item and how they make it, including the 5 sauces they make from scratch. We ate till we were more than full, and it was all great! And to top it all off when it was time to go, Jeremy wouldn’t accept a dime from us for any of it. Too generous.

After lunch we rode up to Lake Burton where the 2nd restaurant, a fine dining establishment called Water’s Edge is located. Jeremy went in to prep for dinner and we got a pontoon tour of the lake from Shanna his wife. The lake and the houses on it are beautiful, and we even had the laugh of getting caught in a little rain. After taking our stuff up to the cabin we were sleeping in, showering and changing into nice clothes, we headed down to Water’s Edge for another amazing meal.

To get an idea of what it was like, imagine the best tasting food that you have ever put into your mouth and imagine that every single item at the table tasted that good. Shrimp and grits, fried green tomatoes, spinach and chicken flatbread, gumbo, salads, filet mignon, grilled trout, shrimp fettucini, butterfinger cheesecake, crepes, and key lime pie. Everything was literally perfect. Alison became the plate envy of everyone at the table with the Filet, which was the best I have ever tasted. Jeremy was busy in the kitchen, but Shanna and the servers took awesome care of us the whole time. I could hardly even imagine a better meal. After the restaurant slowed down, Jeremy got to come out and sit down with us while we drowned him in compliments. And again… he wouldnt let us pay for a thing.

I know this has been a long story and it might even be starting to sound like a commercial for Jeremy’s restaurants. But its not. The point of all this is, this weekend I got to experience the results of someone who is passionate about what they do. Jeremy has been to culinary school, and is obviously a great chef. But what takes the experience to a whole new level is the passion and gusto that he puts into it. You can see in his eyes the enjoyment he gets from wowing people with his amazing food creations. John Eldridge says in “Wild at Heart” to find the thing that makes you come alive and go do that, because what the world needs is people who are alive. People like Jeremy inspire me, and I look forward to the day when I discover what makes me “come alive” like that.

Tragic Hero

As you may remember, I am in the middle of reading through the Bible this year. (in fact, some of you are doing the same) I am currently in Judges and just got to the well-known account of the life of Samson. There are lots of crazy details to his story, but what struck me this time was the big picture – the tragedy of his life. Even knowing the end of the story I was saddened when I read the part where Delilah shaved his head and he lost his strength. 

In the end of course, God’s power became famous through Samson. But how sad is it that it was through him continually chasing women that were not Godly and ultimately through his imprisonment, torture, and humiliation? Although my life may not be characterized by the flamboyant style (or muscles) of Samson’s, my heart is often the same. And when I get to the end I do not want my story to be “how tragic, but look how God was faithful.” I want God to be revealed through my following him with everything I am.

God – as the song says, “bind my wandering heart to thee.”

Jeep CJ7 For Sale

1982 Jeep CJ7

• 4.2 Liter, 6 cylinder engine – runs well, and strong
• 4 speed transmission – great on highway
• Power steering
• 3 inch lift
• 33″ tires
• bimini top, hard top, and hard doors (not pictured)
• very little rust
• drives great- much smoother than many older CJs
• $5400

** Click picture below for more photos

Hey Mac Users….

I just ran across an awesome little utility today called FinderPop. It basically makes getting to all your files much easier and faster, no matter where you are on your computer. It has the hierarchical menu capabilities of the old apple menu, (see screenshot) the ability to copy and paste files, and lots more. And best of all, its free!

Valentine’s Day – A Single Perspective

As a single person, Valentine’s day is second only to the holiday season for making me feel lonely, unhappy, and somehow “less” as a person. This song by one of my favorite groups, Eddie From Ohio expresses it well. You can listen to it here (recommended) or just read the lyrics here. Either way, make sure you listen or read all the way to the end.

Funny song… and pretty much how I feel sometimes. It is often easy to think about and long for the positive things that a relationship provides that we do not have; the companionship, affection, affirmation, or even potential for a family. But for some reason we never seem consider the negatives or challenges that we are also presently free from such as divided time and priorities and relational conflict. Some of the most most intense pain in the entire human experience comes from relational conflict.

Instead of only noticing all the seemingly great couples and relationships around us, we must also consider all of the bad relationships and hurting couples as well. (which are unfortunately maybe the majority) Maybe, just maybe, God is his infinite wisdom is not withholding blessings from us or just making us wait for the heck of it. I know that people like to throw around the phrase “God is preparing you,” but maybe there is another possibility. Maybe he is protecting us from the unimaginable pain and difficulty that wrong relationships bring.

When we are right with God and ourselves and when he brings the right person along, of course all of the positives outweigh the negatives and challenges. But until that point, I would like to suggest that they do not even have the potential to do so. So waiting and trusting God is not only what we are “supposed to do,” it is the best possible thing we can do.

So on Valentines Day, like many other days I am reminded of my singleness and my loneliness. And that is not fun. But at the same time, somehow I am strangely encouraged knowing that God wants to bless me with far more than what my shallow and shortsighted ideas of relationship can even contain.

25 Random Things About Me

Several of you have tagged me with this list on Facebook recently and I have enjoyed reading yours, so I thought I would join in. However, I already had a similar (and much longer) list on my blog so I thought I would just post the link to that. Enjoy!

Way More Than 25 Random Things About Me

An Historic Day

On the day of our new president’s inauguration, many people will celebrate and cheer. Many will complain and even be depressed. I think the following words from a fellow blogger captured my thoughts well.

_______________

…..regardless of your political view, today is a momentous day in the history of our country.
A black man will lead the free world…..

….Racism will not be solved.
The economy will be no better.
Wars will not suddenly end.

After all, [he] is just a man, a sinful, broken man, who will place his hand on God’s Word and promise us a bunch of stuff.

The history making moment will take place when you decide whether to piss and moan about policies, decide to place all your hope in just a man, or decide to fall on your knees and pray for the leadership of our country.

______________

Who is my faith really in? Myself? A Political candidate? Or the One who is greater than us all?

Need Your Help

Ok, it’s time to put all this interweb-social-networking stuff to some real use. My home inspection business is still going, but is not providing much income right now so I am looking for a job and need your help. But rather than just a general appeal for help, I wanted to ask a couple of specific favors of you.

1. Think of 1 -5 people that you know who are very successful or prominent in their fields. Doesn’t matter what field, really. They may be in the company you work for, friends, family, even friends of friends.
2. Call or email each one of them and tell them that you have a friend who is looking for a job who has very strong leadership, management, and project management skills. Ask them if I could contact them about any opportunities they may have or know of.

Although much of my experience is the construction/real estate development fields, I am not necessarily trying to stay in those fields. My management and project management skills are very transferrable to most any industry. Also – while I would love to stay in Columbia, I am genuinely open to pretty much any location. I have already been in contact with companies all over the US and other parts of the world. 

I know its a lot to ask, but thank you very much for your help. If you come up with any leads,  call, email, or facebook me.

Goodbye, and Good Riddance

2008 is the first year of my life that quite honestly I would erase if given a chance. It seems like I have taken 2 steps (or sometimes 20) back in almost every area possible. In the words of John Mayer, “I am not the man I used to be lately. You have caught me at an interesting time.” I could go into a long discussion about the testing of my faith or learning to trust the goodness of God, but I have have written about those things before. Instead, as I begin this new year, I hope to run forward with the heart of these verses from Philippians:

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Wanna Join Me?

In my previous post I promised that I would share with you one of my goals for the upcoming year. So here it is…. I am going to read through the Bible in 2009. To some of you I am sure that sounds cheesy and “religious,” but hear me out. I have read through the Bible in a year once before, and it was one of the best things I have ever done for a couple of reasons. First, the “structure” of it helped me to spend more time focusing on the spiritual elements of my life and God than I ever would have otherwise. Like most Americans, the spiritual part of my life is one that often gets pushed aside by the demands of daily life; family, friends, social activities, even church itself. The problem is, this eventually catches up with me as eventually I run into questions and issues that only spirituality can address. 

Second, and more importantly, during that year I felt God speaking to my heart more than at any other time in my life. It sounds hokey and I can’t even begin to put it into words, but I cannot count the times when I was reading the Bible that something in the passage (or sometimes a seemingly disconnected thought) would flash through my mind and resonate so strongly in my heart that I knew God was speaking to me. Now if you know me well, you know that I do not use that kind of language very often. I am a very logical person and do not over-spiritualize every little event or decision. In fact, I am always skeptical when other people say things like that. But I cannot describe it in any other way.

So all that to say.. I am going to do it again in 2009. And I would like to invite you to join me. Seriously – think about it. Whether you have done it before or not.

Here’s the cool part if you decide to give it a shot: I have created a Facebook group with a message board to discuss the passages read each week. Instead of trying to do it by ourselves, we can read though it together at the same pace and discuss what we are reading as we go. Please check out the group here, and send me a message if you want to join. I sincerely hope that you will consider it – I am sure that your 2009 will be better if you do.