It’s been a while… a long while… I remembered my password!

Well. It’s been a while… a long while… to the point where I almost forgot about this blog. but, I can’t believe I actually remembered the password. Thanks to my brother-in-law Steve give him a follow https://rugspinner.wordpress.com/. I didn’t realize that he had a blog till he shared it on Facebook. It reminded me that I had a blog too. So, let’s get started.

A lot has happened since my last entry on March 27, 2014 (that’s 3 years, and just shy of 2 months.)

So, what has been going on Jody? I know you’re dying to read about it… all 9 of you. Thank you! =0)

June of 2014 I went back to school after 20+ years. I was attending to ITT Tech in San Bernardino Ca. studying for my Bachelors in Electrical Engineering. I received my Associates in E.E. with honors in March of 2016 with a GPA of 3.89. I was Salutatorian at our commencement ceremony. I went through 2 semesters into the bachelors program and in September of 2016 the school closed due to following federal sanctions imposed against the company. Needless to say, I was bummed.

Several good things came out of the ITT experience. I did get a great education. Even though the school was a “for-profit” school, my instructors were awesome and genuinely cared about me getting the best out of school. It was a great experience. I now have a passion for electronics.

I also got a great job out of it. I was working for an avionics company. I injured my knee really bad and had to resign as my injury was affecting my job performance. Although, when my knee is to the point I am not in pain, I still have a job there.

I made some great friends there. Not only did I make great friends, I made some great contacts, my instructors. When the school closed, a lot of my instructors wanted to stay in contact. If I have any questions, I can pick up my phone, or email them. Given the circumstances, it wasn’t to bad of an outcome.

On to current day.

I am at home. I homeschool my kids while my wife is a substitute teacher. I have also pursued photography and video. I have gotten pretty good at it. Actually working on starting a vlog on one YouTube channel and a fun instructional series on another channel. I will post when I have them going.

Since my last entry, I have taken on more responsibilities at my church:

• Worship team (guitar, bass, and drums)
• Board of deacons (church operations)
• Was on the pastoral search committee when our pastor of 13 years retired.
• Webmaster, Sermon recording, Photo and video production

I will leave it at this for now. I will do my best to keep this updated either in text or video form.

Τα λέμε σύντομα

That Moment: Wife, Kids, and Food

In my daily Internet meandering, I do my best to read positive, uplifting, edifying, and thought provoking things. With the way things are today, it’s kind of hard. Today I read something very uplifting and thought provoking. I get a weekly email newsletter from Todd Wilson of FamilyMan Ministries.

This week, Todd was sharing about a “This Is Good” moment he had. He was sitting at the end of a table looking at all eight of his children. They were celebrating a birthday. He noticed that his kids were laughing, talking, and interacting together. It was then that he felt that “This Is Good” moment. Not a prideful or arrogant moment, but a “deep sense of accomplishment.”

Many times I have moments where I think to myself, “Wow! I am married with three kids.” And it’s usually at the dinner table. I see my kids being silly, talking, and laughing. I see my wife at the other end of the table and the awesome meal she cooks every night. I can’t help but to think, “WOW! I am a part of this. Thank you God for blessing me!” Now, this is not to say that everything is hunky-dory all the time. But for that moment, it’s all good.

Yes, I know, these moments will come a go. But as my kids grow, I believe that those moments will contain a deeper sense of accomplishment.

You can experience it too. Stop, open your eyes, open your ears, and pay attention.

I am in no way affiliated with FamilyMan Ministries. I just get really cool emails from them. Check them out at http://www.familymanweb.com

Married men: your porn habit is an adultery habit

A Must Read!!!

The Matt Walsh Blog

I know a guy who cheats on his wife. He cheats on her every day. He cheats on her multiple times a day. He’s a husband and a father and a serial adulterer.

I shouldn’t know this fact about him, but it came up in conversation a few days ago. We were talking about the divorce rate; both of us gave our theories as to why the statistics are so high. I mentioned in my diagnosis a few studies that show pornography to be a root cause in over 50 percent of divorces annually.

He laughed. “People don’t get divorced over porn.” He went on to explain that porn isn’t a “big deal” to most people. It’s not “like it’s cheating or something.” He told me that he looks at it multiple times daily. His wife, he insisted, might be a little peeved if she knew the extent of…

View original post 1,178 more words

People, Pastors, and Pedestals…

In church, there are certain things that you expect. You can expect worship music, weekly announcements, pastor’s message, call for any prayer. This is kind of a standard format. This past Sunday was a bit different. At the end of the service, where you would normally go up for prayer, our pastor had a special announcement. He announced his retirement. Needless to say I was shocked, but I was expecting to hear that announcement soon. I was hoping and praying for later, but God’s plan and timing was already in full motion.

The human part of me is sad and concerned for the future of the church, because the bar has been set VERY HIGH. But the spiritual side of me is happy that God’s plan is not being interrupted by human nature. Pastor and his wife have diligently gone before the throne and prayed for guidance and direction. Retirement has been announced, and now they wait for God’s next command.

I know there will be people that will leave the church, solely on the grounds of pastor’s leaving. And it’s sad that it will happen. People will pick a church on several different aspects. But #1 is usually the pastor. Does he preach a good/interesting sermon? Does he make you feel welcome? Is he approachable? When someone makes a church their home church based solely on the pastor, they tend to put the pastor on a pedestal, and for all intents and purposes they worship the pastor more than they do Christ.

The pastor is the leader, or shepherd of the congregation but he is also human and should not be placed so high that he is seen as perfect. The Bible says we have all sinned and come short of God’s glory, but through his son Jesus Christ we can receive salvation. The pastor is the one to show us how to come to know God closer. I have known pastors that were unapproachable. I am thankful to have been able to get to know my current pastor on a deeper level and blessed to be able to call him friend and mentor.

Change is coming; it’s not the most comfortable feeling. But I feel the need to get pressed down as I am being shaken so that I may stand strong for the changes I feel coming in my own life.

My Family is Just Rad…Radness Factor 10

Next month will mark my mother’s 73rd birthday and June will mark 22 years since she passed away from lung cancer. My mom was rad. I was able to talk with her about anything. She was kind of like a second mom to my friends that would come over to hang out or visit. She had a radness factor of 10.

I have always been a sucker for long hair. When I married my wife Renia, she had long hair. She had long hair all the time I have known her (since 1994). I told her how rad and special my mom was since she was not able to know her. Since lung cancer was what took my mama, she wanted to do something special for her. She wanted to do something that would last and help others. She did some research and found  http://locksoflove.org/.

Since finding http://locksoflove.org/ she has donated three times as of today. My daughter who just turned 6 donated for her first time on thursday. I donated once about 6 years ago. I can’t donate any more. My hair has turned gray and I don’t have the real estate available for a new crop.

Thank you to my wife and daughter for their love. My whole family has a radness factor of 10!

Red Tape… What Next God?

It has been some time since I have posted anything here. I have been going through some hard times, but I figured it was time to write something.

Most of you know my situation over the past couple of years. With all the “bumps in the road,” “potholes,” and “sinkholes” I have encountered the past six months, I am finally getting some results. I finally had second surgery on my right knee. After telling two doctors that I am having pain that I can’t control, one finally said that I needed to get my knee fixed. So on 4/24 my wife, my new son Caleb and I drove to San Diego, where the surgery would take place. The next day at 7:45 am, I went in for surgery. I must say the staff at Coast Medical Center were awesome! They were very nice, compassionate, and just fun to talk to. The Dr. did a lot of stuff inside my knee. The main thing was to fix the menial disc that was wreaking most of the havoc. After surgery, in recovery, they brought my wife and son in and within about 15 minutes of waking up, I was released.

The afternoon before surgery, my wife and I got to catch up on conversation. We shared stuff that we had been thinking and praying about. I can’t divulge any of the info yet. 🙂 But it’s a good thing. Thank you all for the thoughts and prayers. Please continue to pray for recovery, pain control, and my left knee. It has been aggravated since the original injury.

J.S.

Menopause or Pregnancy… MAKE UP YOUR MIND! (Not you Honey, your hormones.)

It has been a while since my last entry/post. A lot has been going on. My last post was on Feb 19th. of this year. Yes, that is an eternity between posts and probably sacrilegious in some bolgosphere circles.

With getting back to work full time a few months ago from my injury. We were finally starting to settle into a “normal” routine (or so we thought) and looking forward to the coming year.  My wife started noticing some changes in her body.  After some figuring she thought menopause was the next stage in life.  Then a few weeks ago she noticed some things that seemed strange.  After a couple of tests we learned that she was 13 weeks pregnant.  WOW~~~TALK ABOUT A SHOCK!  We did not see this coming.  We thought we were done. We had tried 2 and 3 years ago but as nothing happened, we felt we were to be a happy family of 4.

Personally, I have been an emotional wreck. The spiritual attacks have been coming strong and taking advantage of my weakness and vulnerability. But by the grace of God, I am getting by. I am reminded daily that God has my back. But it’s that whole “trust” thing coming into play that is still a “work in progress.”

My wife is doing good. Or as good as can be expected right now. She is a strong woman of God, and keeping the spiritual warfare at bay. GOD I LOVE THIS WOMAN!!! 

Today as of this writing, we had our first visit with the OB. The OB confirms she is now 17 weeks along.  It was kinda nice to skip the 1st trimester.  She felt nothing and had no clue to even think she might be pregnant.  So we embark once again on the baby journey.  We are praying for an uneventful pregnancy.  Baby boy is due in January 2013.  So much for settling down this year.  Here we go…

Continued prayer is needed. Thank you! In His Grip.

Can you be a Christian without reading the bible? Um… yeah… for about 15 seconds.

Can you be a Christian without reading the bible? This was the basic premise of a daily devotional I was watching today. The pastor gave an analogy of, being at a soccer game for some children. And the referee had not shown up. So, he was thrown in as the referee. The gentleman new nothing about the rules of the game, how the field should be set up or nothing. He didn’t even know who was on what team. The game started and shortly after, chaos ensued.

After a while, the referee showed up. He got the boys on the right teams laid out the lines and markers for the field, and stared the game. There was order. The rules were in place, and the boys had a great game and a lot of fun.

God’s word guides us. It takes us to where He wants us to go. Without the direction of God and His word, our lives would spiral out of control. It is true. Would you want to referee a pro football game? I’m sure you would. But do you know the rules? I mean all the rules? Do you know what all the signals are? Do you know when to throw a flag on a play? I sure don’t. If I wanted to be a referee, I would have to read the rulebook cover to cover, inside out, upside down, every day, and three times on every alternate Tuesday.

Without the bible, God’s “rule book,” we would have no direction. Yeah, we would have people telling us what to do, but without God’s direction (the bible) chaos will ensue. I like the acronym for B.I.B.L.E. “Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth.” The instructions are the rules and directions God has given us to live our lives in a way that is reflecting of him and pleasing to him.

Yes, we are going to encounter chaos throughout our walk with Christ. We are human. We are not going to be perfect by any stretch of the word. But, we will be able to handle the chaos that comes our way a little bit better because we have God on our side giving us direction through His living word.

Amaze, Amazed, Amazing… Isn’t It Amazing?

I woke up at 6am today, strange for a Saturday. Compared to what time I normally wake up, I guess I slept in. Within a couple of minutes of me walking out of my bedroom, my son came out. We said our good mornings, got the newspaper, and I went to the car to get my bible and small group stuff. Next thing I know my son went to his room and got his bible. He sat next to me and we had quiet time together. Cool huh?

About a half an hour later my daughter came out and saw us, she immediately ran to her room and got her picture bible (she’s 4 years old.) So what turned out to be my alone time with God became a family affair. I’m cool with that. It was great! We talked about John the Baptist & Noah. I didn’t know until I was almost done, but I was talking on the topic the kids are learning in school currently, obedience.

I love the fact that my kids are enjoying learning about God. I kind of get that “warm-fuzzy” feeling when my kids are reading the bible. My wife, who teaches our kids in home school, is going through the small group with me that I posted about earlier. And she is teaching them (on their level) the ways of studying we are going through.

I find it amazing what God has blessed me with. It isn’t the material things for sure; it’s the family things. I love my family very much. My kids are amazing! They constantly blow me away. Yes, they can be a handful at times, but whose kids aren’t? And my wife… well… she just flat out ROCKS!

Blessings to you this coming week.

Kick Down the Walls… and Kick’em Hard

Yes, I know it has been a while since my last post. Life has gotten in the way and was getting stale in my walk. But I am back and getting refreshed more each day. Allow me to share with you.

This past Wednesday, my church started doing small groups again. Reluctantly, I agreed and signed up.  (Side note: I’m not much of a people person currently. In my younger days, yes I would talk to anyone. But now, I just want to be by myself with my family. Every once in a while, I have to venture out and deal with people. I’m getting better.)

Our small groups are doing Rick Warren’s “40 Days In The Word.” Basically it covers 6 ways to study the bible. We go through a different way of studying it each week for, wait for it… six weeks. I am so glad I am going through this study. One of the things I have struggled with, being a Christ follower, was how to study the bible… effectively. Yes, I can read the bible. I can read very well, but most of the time when I read, it seems as if I am just practicing my reading skills. I don’t feel like I am getting anything out of it.

Rick Warren kicks down the wall with this study. Just within the first day, I have been able to study the word more effectively. I still have a ways to go, but I am getting into the Word and really grasping it for the first time. And my quiet times are more enjoyable. I don’t feel like I am wasting God’s time… as much.

I am looking forward to what this study has in store in the following weeks. Don’t get me wrong; I am just sharing this because it is working for me. I’m not getting any kickback or anything for mentioning this. It works for me, but might not for you.

If you want to check it out, go to www.40daysintheword.com.

Have a great weekend, and may He be your focus.