Dear Younger Me

Dear Josh,

Here it is 2017 and I wanted to share some wisdom that I have been shown going on 35 years now.  Remember when all the talk was about flying cars by 1996? Remember when getting your drivers license seemed so far away?  Remember how class of 2000 seemed like it was forever in the future? Or maybe that heartbreak that seemed it would never get better?

I can safely say you survived all of those things and yet, still no flying cars.  The era of the Jetsons is yet among us, but something I am sure our future self will see.

Remember your first drum set in 6th grade?  Up till then you hadn't really stuck with anything, but I can tell you, you still play, although you might want to consider practicing more. Good news, you are still playing drums.

Almost 35 years I have been you.  You didn't know me then, but if you had I can guarantee you and I would have had some words.  Your heart then was much bigger than your head and your generosity bigger than your bank account.

Would I stop those things? Probably not, but your commitment to others, decisions based on things to come instead of your reality.  Don't do that.  Why were you so worried about making life happen?  You under appreciated being single.  Don't get me wrong, you are super happy now, you have a beautiful wife and 2 beautiful daughters.

Just in the last 9 years you have started to learn how to be a husband,  believe it or not, it is much harder than you ever thought it could be.  Who knew someone you love and married could have so many different opinions than you?  Could do the same task 100% different than you but somehow still be correct? Yep, you had no clue, but try to consider that sooner.

Stick with radio, (yeah, you realized your dream to be on radio) but at some point you thought it was too hard to continue and quit.  Bad idea.  Better idea, learn to say no when you are in your early 20's.  Sounds counter-intuitive, but you missed a lot of opportunities because you didn't say no.  It is ok to depart from your comfort zone.  Snellville is a wonderful place, but your life can continue elsewhere.

When you are in high school and you think French is too hard, ride it out, you are much better at it than Spanish.  When you are in your 20's and you want to travel to France for ministry work, you will wish you had stayed with it.  You will also wish you had gone.  Don't make up reasons to stay in the US.  She won't be it, it will be ok.

When you are 15, just don't, you'll know when you get there, but don't.

Friends, yeah you never had a lot of close friends, you still don't and that is ok.  Remember though, friends are people you get along with, not the ones in the right social circle.  You missed out on some friendships because you were too worried about stupid things.

You are a nerd, it's ok.  There is a reason you had to show your teacher how to use a computer when you were 10, stick with it, that does pay off.

When you are 13, there internet will blow your mind. You have no idea how to handle the new found world, again, don't, you will know when you get there, but don't.  It is amazing and you will be good at it, it will help you in your jobs, but it is also evil and can destroy many things. You will have to learn the hard way, we are like that.

When you are in 10th grade and the youth pastor ask if anyone is not sure of their salvation, make sure he sees you, go find him afterwards, don't put it off.  When your family joins the church a few months later, don't get baptized.  Wait until you know.  You are on the right track, let the Holy Spirit direct you, while asking Jesus into your heart sounds great and believing that Jesus is the Son of God, that's not quite it.  Have someone explain the law to you.

DON'T BUY THE HOUSE! You won't believe me, but the housing market will seem perfect, but trust me, stay put! It will not work out, please trust me. Just don't.  Today me will thank you.

Also, what's with you buying all of those cars?  Stick with 1 or 2.  You will have plenty of time to buy cars.  It doesn't really help you and the reasons you got rid of them are dumb.  Just don't.  Again, getting rid of the Volvo, bad idea, getting your first Altima, good idea.

December 3, 2000, you don't have to do it by yourself, God has you and you will be safe.  Reach out to your friends, talk to someone, it is ok, There will always be someone in a worse place then you, but that doesn't mean you don't need help.  It is ok to be scared and sad and angry and all those emotions, work through them.  We don't need those feelings stored in our head.

Overall you did pretty good.  You made some good choices.  drum line, one of your best decisions.  Senior Prom, senior year, you spent that time well.  In middle school, learning to ignore criticisms and being picked on, you were right in not letting that consume your time and thoughts. 3rd grade reading.  When you decided we loved to read, one of the best things we have ever done. Don't let that get away from us.

Trust Mom and Dad, you will figure this out later, but they know more then you think.  Be kind to others, reach out to people who seem like they need someone, you will not be worse for finding more friends.

Don't worry about hitting 200lb.  You will get there and then you will wish it back.  Enjoy being skinny.  

Josh, you made us who we are today, but let's take what we learned and share it with others while there is time.  Learning from our mistakes makes us wiser, but with that wisdom, we need to tell others, let them learn from ours, so when they are older, they can look back their old self and realize the land mines they dodged.  Stop them from taking that first step on the slippery slope.

Above all else, Josh, let God lead you sooner, that way you can tell others sooner and we don't waste so much time with distractions and filling out heads with ungodly things.

Until we meet again,


Josh

Ludicrous speed!

I love Spaceballs too much to not use this clip, but there is another song that fits what I am writing about today.  If you have listened to country ever or lived in the south you have probably heard this song at least once.  "I'm in hurry" by Alabama.

"I'm in a hurry to get things done

Oh I rush and rush until life's no fun

All I really gotta do is live and die

But I'm in a hurry and don't know why.

This song fits me pretty well.  Everything I do I feel as though I am punching  time clock.  If you know me at all, you know that punctuality is extremely important to me and I am rarely late.  However, even when I know I will be on time, I still speed, hurry and get very impatient when detours occur.

I started writing this back in April and interestingly enough, after I wrote the above, I started to really pay attention to trying to slow down when I did things.  It did seem to help and to help me realize how fast things are going.

Now as I write this tonight, Emeline will be starting Kindergarten tomorrow. I have been thinking about it for a few weeks now and I can't believe we are starting the next phase with her.  It doesn't seem real that she is starting school.

Even though the girls have been going to preschool the last few years, it just means we are another step close to the girls getting older.  Odette will be 4 in October and with Emeline starting "real" school, we are slowly moving out of the toddler, preschooler ages and getting closer to that whole school age kid.

As this moment appeared out of nowhere, I know the next phase will just as quickly.  I hope that I can learn to slow down and appreciate what matters and not look back and have missed anything.


Josh

Well, that was fun

Put away the moving boxes, cancel the truck.  The good news is that we are not moving.  After 2 1/2 months of our house being on the market we got exactly 0 offers. I have to say the experience of having the house up for sale did have a few positives as it helped us develop a few new habits on keeping the house clean and picking things up.  It also allowed us to paint and do some repairs that we had wanted to do, but just didn't make it happen.

I am a bit frustrated that we didn't get any offers, even a low one.  While our house could use a few improvements, it is overall in very good shape and for the price/amount of house, I feel like the price was close.

To top off the last week of finally deciding to take the house off the market, the last showing found a leak.  A leak that ended up ruining our entire kitchen floor.  That ended up being the tipping point.

So right now we are waiting on insurance to tell us what they will cover and we will hopefully get moving on getting the kitchen floor replaced.

Not moving will be a good thing.  I hope it will give us some time to wrap up my house in Acworth.  We are in month 8 of the "short" sale process and by the looks of it, probably several more months to go.

Here's to not having to keep the house "show ready" 24/7 and to what staying here will mean.

Until next time,

Josh

Eight days a week

Phew, it has been a busy 2 weeks. Last week seemed like it would never end and in the same breath, I felt like it barely happened.

I was on night support for work and on the second night I came down with the stomach bug.  I was the first, then Emeline and then Amy followed.  In the middle of all of that my Dad and I had started painting our living room so by the time I had come down with the bug, we were fully committed to the living room and needing to finish it up.  On top of all of that, Amy started feeling bad a couple of days before the bug fully got her so any chance of napping was gone.

Needless to say it was a long week.

It has been a rough few weeks.  The girls have hit a new stride of "pushing" buttons and boundaries.  We still have the house up for sale and trying to keep the house cleaned is tough.  Interestingly enough, none of the showings have been very good.  I didn't think it would bother me, but it is tough to have people after people come and look at our house with nothing positive to say.   You feel like why did they waste our time?  As it would be, almost all of the showings have been fairly inconvenient and to get negative feedback is defeating.  We like our house and work hard to keep it clean and to have others not like it, makes it feel like a personal attack.

Understandably, it is not, but after seeing the comments, you wonder if people even look at the listing prior to coming to the house.  Our listing is pretty accurate and the pictures do the house justice.  Believe it or not, the price is even listed too! Probably the dumbest question that is being answered is "what do you think of the price?".  I must be missing something because to me, if the price was not in your budget, or too far over your budget, you would not be looking at the house anyway.

Evidently, I am in the minority, because 90% of the showings have complained about the price.  I'm just not cut out for the house showing business. I pray that we get a good showing soon and an offer.  I also hope that things can get back to 'normal' for a time and we can find some rest.

Until next week,


Josh

I've never heard that one before

You're the cashier, you are ringing up someone and the item you are scanning doesn't ring up.  If you have worked in retail at all, I bet I can guess what you are already thinking.  The customer saying "it must be free".  I bet you never heard that before...

I experienced an event last night that made me think of the concept of hearing the same thing a thousand times, but from a thousand different people.

Part of my job is phone support.  I looked this morning and I took a little over 600 calls last year.  Something else occurred to me as well.  I have repeated myself, a lot.  I've asked "Is it powered on?", "Are you even in the same location as the issue?", "Why did you restart it? I didn't ask you to do that" , over and over and over again.

However, as the customer who wants the free item, most of the time, the callers have not talked to me before.  They've never had the joy of hearing me ask them if the unit was turned on.  Knowing that, why do I act like they have?

It's like the artist that sings the same set list night after night, it is not the audience's fault they've played their radio hit a million times.  The audience paid good money to be there and they expect the artist to perform that song as if they are the only performance they will ever do.

Taking customer calls is a lot like that.  Even though I've sang the same song over and over, the caller has not heard it yet.

Something I have to do is to remind myself that each call is the "first" time and know that even though I'm tired of repeating myself, they are hearing it for the first time.  I think if I can own that concept, I will be a much calmer person.


Until next week,

Josh

A day late and a dollar...few thousand short

So I didn't make my weekly scheduled blog post.  I have a topic that I want to write about, but lately, I have been really tired.  In having the house up for sale, it feels like we are in a constant state of cleaning.  On top of that, we've just hit a busy spell again.  The girls and Amy were sick, then I had a day of being sick.  So what I am trying to say is that I am in a tired rut and feel like being a bit whiny.

As anytime change is on the horizon, it causes me to be a bit introspective, pondering where I am at in my life.  Makes me question choices I've made and what I am doing.  All in all, it has been a tiring few weeks.

Until next week, 

Josh

Flashback

Last week I was going through my google drive and found some things I wrote several years ago.  It is interesting to me to read what I wrote in the past.  I can see how I viewed things and where I've grown.  It is also interesting to me to see how some views have not faltered.  Below is one of my writings.  It is a bit lengthy, but I feel like they are good points.  Enjoy!

August 8, 2008,

In Acts 2 , Paul is talking to the Jewish people and basically telling them to repent and come to Christ. He is also telling them that they have to turn from their traditions and accept Christ. Something that would be a huge deal in the Jewish culture. As with most religions and groups, if you decide to leave, there is shame, ridicule, and sometimes exile.

If you look at the early church in Acts, it is very obvious that the message being preached was not one of, come and be happy, or come and be prosperous, it was repent or go to hell. That is about it, there was no free car give away or free gas cards for coming to church. It was very much a take it or leave it mentality.

The part that is frustrating me as of late, is for some reason, churches have decided to cater to the non-believer. “We don't want them to feel uncomfortable” or “we don't want it to seem like church”. Why not? Since when did church not need to feel like church? We are to preach the Gospel, not serve coffee and donuts. Now, I am not saying that church that serves coffee and donuts is not doing something right. There is a very big difference in biblical reasons and traditional reasons, but the evangelical church today seems to be very concerned with making everyone comfortable. We don't want to offend anyone. We will just leave abortion or homosexuality alone, we don't want to make anyone “uncomfortable”. I heard on the radio the other day someone saying that if the gospel is preached around non-believers it is going to make them uncomfortable. If the word in not in you it will sound foreign. The bible talks explicitly about that. Why can't the church just worry about preaching the gospel and let God take care of the rest? If we are being true followers and preaching, the gospel will not fall on deaf ears. People will be drawn to it, the gospel, the truth. That is what happens when churches grow, they are preaching the truth. That is the only thing that will eternally grow a church. Look at the Billy Graham crusades, he did not do raffle drawings or ease into the word. He messages were about repentance. That was all, Jesus is Lord and you need to follow Him. He is the only way to Heaven. Period, end of sentence. That is all you need to say,

Think of it this way. If a non-believer comes into your church and that sunday the straight up gospel is not presented, that may have been the only time that person would have step foot into the church. Instead of hearing the way to heaven, they heard a great life lesson on how to live their life better. Good for them, go to the book store and there are entire sections dedicated to self help. Instead, they could have heard the leave your earthly ways and live for God. “Give up your life so you can have it” We are so concerned about hurting someones feelings are scaring them away, that we hesitate to tell them they have to give up their old lifestyle and be born again. That means rejecting your old ways and changing your habits, your life style. That is what Paul told the Jews, and 3000 did that, just by hearing the truth, not because he put our cushy chairs or made sure he did not start his preaching too early in the morning, or step on anyones toes.

How can we preach change but yet, cater to the world so they wont have to change? If people do not need to change to come to church, how can we expect them to change for Christ? We give off the impression that all you need to do is believe and accept, but lots of time repentance is left out, Accepting Christ's gift is not “free” it is available for ANYONE who wants it, but it does not come without a price. However, it is worth far more then we could ever give up, far more then we could ever imagine.

There is something that I heard once and I can't type it out correctly, but the jest of it was saying that how we lead people to Christ is how they will expect their Christian walk to be. That is a lot easier said then typed, but basically we need to stop misleading people into thinking that Christianity is a get out of hell free card and start letting them know that it is a life change, one that could cause them to lose their friends, and even family connections. It is a costly decision, not one that can be made without those changes. Please Church, stop catering, start preaching, that is all that has to happen. Preach the truth every sunday and people will come. The world is seeking truth and human nature is to seek the truth, it is a desire that is in everyone (I wonder who put that there?) and when the Word of God is being spoken, that will be all you need. A tent can bring as many souls to Christ as a 50,000 square foot A/C cushy reclining chairs with the biggest sound system and the greatest band. Christ is the only thing a church needs. People will be reached, just follow the example in Acts.