What is my vocation?

What is my vocation?  Or what was I born to do?  Interesting question that does not have a easy answer.  Does your job make you think of your next vacation?  Or is your job something that you don't need an escape from?  Many interesting questions that are tough to answer at times.  Heard it said this way once, "Hard work is a prison cell only if the work has no meaning.

What makes me feel the most alive when I do it?  Shouldn't that be what we are doing in our lives?  Lots of questions today, and as you can see not many answers.

maybe tomorrow....

Slow Days

Man, I would rather be so busy I don't know what to do next.  Sure makes for a long day at the office, when all you are doing is research.....but it is about time to go home for the evening.  Pettisville Girls Basketball to watch Amber and Audra!!  Go Birds!

I need some wood.....

well the weekend is here and it is time to take a trip to Garber's Sawmill across the mile from our house and get some oak.  Couple oak projects on the horizon and others sure to follow.  Sure hope I can get a deal on some oak Glen wants to get rid of!  I would take the same deal as the cherry I bought last fall.

So get your orders in now for those Kiddy picnic tables and Swings and all other outdoor kind of things.  I AM READY FOR SPRING!

Sounds like it could be around 50 by next Tuesday.  No wonder the flu is running wild in NWO.  Well, time to get back to work.

Artic Blast!

January in Ohio.  Cold, Colder and Coldest.  What can we say?  It is 19 degrees and the chill factor of about 0.  Give me a break!  Makes me not want to head to the barn to do any work that is for sure.  Time for more wood burner time. 

The Harbaugh Bowl will be in 2 weeks.  Who will win the Super Bowl this year and what will be the best commercial.  I DO NOT want to have a Super Bowl Party.  I hope Rose feels the same way.  That is what we said last year and what do you know, about 30 people were at our house for the game!  Oh Well, it was fun, I guess??

I guess at this point it would be hard to pick against the Ravens.  They seem to be the team of destiny......

31 more days till be leave for Lakeland!

NFL

Do I really care about the NFL Playoffs?  I used to never miss one of these games, but lately I don't even watch much. With the outside temp to be in the mid-20's Sunday, I suppose I will fire up the wood stove, turn on the TV and and take a nap come about 3 PM on Sunday.  Popcorn, lemonade and Football.

I guess that is what winter is about here in NWO!  Go Lions....Oh yeah, they were 4-12!

I have Finally done it....

Well, I have finally done it and launched TRK Woodworking.  Yeah, I know, who cares, but I have finally said  YES I want to do this and start heading into something that could be a "retirement" career 10 years from now.  Time will tell, but you can check it out at https://www.facebook.com/#!/TrkWoodworking.

I need to start taking better photos and also to upload more photos.

Ready to start quoting projects and repairs.  Let the games begin!

I Love WoodWorking

Man I love to do woodworking.  I wish is was my day job instead of my dream job.  One day maybe it will be.  I have been thinking:  Why do I go to work?

I need cash for food, clothing and shelter.  Beyond that?  Health Insurance and Retirement...and because I love my wife and grandkids.  Kind of crazy to think about all of this, but it is true.  Time goes a lot faster in the shop than in the office.  I think better and love it.   I would need to invest to get this done, but first there would have to be enough profitable business to make this work.

Dreams, I am living the dream now for the most part.  Job that I like, a wife that I adore and kids and grandkids that make it all worth while.  That can be enough in my life.  I have been having trouble getting past this in the past, but I think I am finally there  If Paul could be content in whatever state of life he found himself in, so can I.

Back to Winter

What a great Saturday it was!  60 Degrees and an hour on the Goldwing.  It was a great ride and now the bike is back in the trailer.  What weather we have in Ohio!  60 degrees one day and 30 the next.  Lots of rain and lousy weather.

Just watched the first video of Andy Stanley's "Guardrails" series.  It was really good and started to make me think of Guardrails in my life.  I feel like I was raised in a "guardrails" kind of life.  Rose and I both feel that way.  That is a good thing for sure.  But Andy did make me think about what a guardrail is...is it a standard in my life that makes me have a mark on my conscience that makes me change the way I live.  What new guardrails do I need? 

A new one in our life is the guardrail of diet.  Since last June Rose and I have changed the way we eat and how much we eat.  We measure our food more, share meals and steaks which from time to time drives us crazy.  But it is a lifestyle change that must stay with us the rest of our lives.  So on we go, one day at a time.  This makes us use the scales as a guardrail.  Maintaining weight and changing our lifestyle.  Not always fun, but sure makes you feel better.  Day by day is how we must live our lives.  This is made possible by a faith in Christ that we also have and makes us accountable to each other and to God.

Tickets Go On Sale!

Saturday January 12th spring training tickets for the Tigers go on Sale!  That is a sign that we are getting closer and closer to leaving Ohio in the dust and head to Lakeland to see the beloved Tigers and get back HOME to Lakeland!  I can feel the warm air now!

Really don't have to worry to much about tickets since Rose and I sit in the nose bleed seats in the bleachers.  Up high where the sun and breeze feel so good and the peanuts and hot dogs are the best!  Rose needs souvenir  cups and lots of sun and to feed the ducks and swans down at Lake Morton! 

Is it Friday yet?

Why is it that it is so hard to go back to a normal 5 day work week after the Holidays?  Man, this week only seems like a month!  But I must think to myself, take everyday as a blessing and look for the good in everything I do.  Sometimes this is impossbile for me, but look at it this way, The Lord has blessed me so richly in so many ways that I should be grateful for the days and make the most of each day.

This is pretty cliche to say this, but it needs to be that way in my life.  Work in a way that is pleasing to God and live according to His statues.

Fire up the Bike!

One of my favorite things to do is to go for that "winter" ride on the Goldwing.    Mr Weatherman says it could be 60 degrees on Saturday afternoon!  That means fire up the Goldwing.  January 12th and the bike will be out and about.  Sounds like fun to me.  But this time of the year you know it will be short lived.  Then it will be time to put it back in the trailer and dream of Parksdale Farms, Crestwood Suites and of course Joker Marchant Stadium.

Scritpure for today is Matthew 15:18 -

But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man.

Ouch....are those things really in my heart?  Man, I hope not.  

Romans 12 & 13

Today my daily reading was in Romans.  One of my favorite books of the Bible and Chapter 12 is one of my favorites:

1Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. 2And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. 3For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith. 4For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, 5so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 6Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; 7if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; 8or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness. 9Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good. 10Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor; 11not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; 12rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, 13contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality. 14Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. 16Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation. 17Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. 18If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. 19Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,” says the Lord. 20“BUT IF YOUR ENEMY IS HUNGRY, FEED HIM, AND IF HE IS THIRSTY, GIVE HIM A DRINK; FOR IN SO DOING YOU WILL HEAP BURNING COALS ON HIS HEAD.” 21Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

I should read this everyday and make it a pattern for life.







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Monday, Again

Back at work with a heavy heart.  Thinking of the Sprow's right now and praying that God will give them the strength to go on from here.  Cory's viewing is today and funeral tomorrow.  Sad day, very sad day.

Thank God for everyday and live it as though it is your last. 

Two kinds of mistakes

There is the mistake of overdoing the defense of the status quo, the error of investing too much time and energy in keep things as they are.

And then there is the mistake made while inventing the future, the error of small experiments gone bad.

We are almost never hurt by the second kind of mistake and yet we persist in making the first kind, again and again.  - Seth Godin

Bad News

Just got some very bad news.  Even when you know it is coming, it still make me feel broken.  2 little girls will not haved a dad anymore...a wife will no longer have a husband by her side.

While it is very sad, it does make me think about my life and all that I have been thankful for.  I have just read the book Quitter by Jon Acuff and was having trouble with defining what is enough for me....I can now define it.

I have 2 great kids and 2 great spouses that my kids were lucky enough to find.  4 awesome grandsons that are loved by their parents and parents and kids all live under the same roofs.  These are the things that make life enough.  what is really important?

1. getting to watch you kids get on the school bus
2. watching your kids activities.
3. watching your kids and their spouses have success in life
4. getting to walk down the aisle with your daughter
5. getting to sing at your son's wedding
6. getting to read to the grandkids
7. getting to see your kids and spouses raise their children in the fear and admonition of the Lord Jesus Christ
8. I get to go on vacation with the love of my life several times a year
9. Get to help those in need
10.  Get to share my faith in Jesus with those in my life.

These things make my life enough....if nothing else in life ever happens or I go home to Jesus now, I have lived a life that is enough.

Please live your life in a way that is pleasing in God's sight.

It's Friday

Another cold morning here in NWO!  Imagine that in January, cold?  Well anyway, back to work this morning and hard at it.  Ready for the weekend even if we only worked 3 days this week.

Still struggling what ENOUGH is in my life.  Not sure what God has planned for Rose and I, but I do know that HE is in control and at the center of my life and all I do. 

This weekend will consist of getting started on a new woodworking project and finishing a couple of other if all the parts get here for the nightstand and I get Rose's picture frame finished for the WONDERFUL aerial photo we had done of our house.

49 days till Lakeland!

2013

I have made a resolution to actually post to this blog....yeah right.  I am counting the days till we head to Lakeland for Baseball, BBQ, strawberry Shortcake and motorcycle riding.  Hitch up the trailer and let's get out of here! 

Can the Tigers win in all in 2013?  We can only hope so.  Should be interesting.

Hotel Reservations - Check
Trailer ready to go - Check
Tickets ordered - not yet, they aren't on sale yet!

Can't wait for Joker Marchant, Parksdale Farms, Sonny's Real Pit BBQ and Jimbo's BBQ and home made pickles!

The Countdown has begun......