Saturday, March 29, 2008

Soulja Boy

So, I went to a baseball game on Wednesday night. It was the grizzlies/giants game...

Go figure, the grizzlies beat their major league affiliate. Looks to be another high quality year for giants fans... Good thing Im a dodger boy..

Anyways, the gounds team was raking the infield between innings at one point, and soulja boy came on... They all did this cute little organized dance... I say cute, because I honestly dont know how else to describe. Apparently soulja boy has its own dance..

That got me thinking. Maybe I want to learn the soulja boy dance (not really, but I felt I should say something like that). So, off to You tube!!!

And go figure, here is what I found...



I think I like this idea... It is like the village people, in mass. I mean, a bunch of prisoners, doing organized dancing.. This is frickin' awesome.

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Perks

You know.. There are some major perks to being in construction. For instance, I was going home yesterday, and got a call from one of my vendors.. Apparently he acquired some tickets for the grizzlies/giants game tonight, and he wanted to give them to me. No cost.. I mean, I do give him a lot of business, but still. Free tickets? Im all over that!

But there are also down sides. I went to bed at 8:30 on sunday night. I was exhausted. Im up around 4:30, and to work by 5:30. The only way I seem to get done what I need to is to get in before the crews go to work.

I have been working on perfecting the art of putting out fires. I dont catch up, I just take care of the hottest items first. I dont think it is the right way to work, but at least I always have something to do.

I guess overall, work has its ups and downs, but what really makes it alright is outside of work. It is nice to have something else going on besides the gym and work.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

I think I have a problem..

So, for those of you who dont know, I have satellite radio, which is AMAZING! There is a channel on it called super shuffle. This channel plays anything and everything.

So im coming back to my office from a jobsite, listening to this channel. I have the window rolled down, and my sunglasses on (and I look really cool). So, this Michael Jackson song comes on, Black or white. For those of you who dont know, it goes like this.

"It dont matter if your black or white!" (I sang it really good, I hope you heard)

Well, It came on, and I turned my radio up... Now picture this; there is this white guy, in a white truck, with his sunglasses on and window rolled down, listening, and singing along to michael jackson..

I dont think it matters if he was black when he sang that song, it still wasn't right.

I guess the only salvation I have is that once I realized what I was doing, I rolled my window up, and turned the music down...

Order has been restored.

Sunday, March 16, 2008

The art of being busy

There are times in my life when I loathe things to do. I just want to sit and relax. This enables me to think, to ponder, and to get back to where I feel I need to be.
But There are other times when being busy is what I need the most. What this does it enable me to not think, or over think. I have a tendency to turn things over way too much. For instance, I can sit at work thinking about a job, and I think and think about an issue until I feel I have a solution. I have complicated the problem so much that my solution makes no sense.
I am trying to learn to live, instead of thinking. I dont want to miss the big things in life.

Sunday, March 9, 2008

Three steps to Happiness.

I am in the middle of reading a book by Donald Miller titled, "Searching for God knows what". I have read this book before, but recently found it while cleaning my truck out yesterday.

In it, he talks about self help books and how we as a people looks for simple steps to making our lives better: AA with their twelve steps, three steps to better prayer... so on and so forth. He goes on to talk about how we react when these steps dont work out. I know that more than once I look at God, and tell Him, "I did A, B, and C, so you should at least do D for me." But it doesn't work that way.

All too often I look at God as a wish list.

As an example: I ran into (not literally) an old girlfriend today. It wasn't awkward at all. I was simply singing in my truck with the windows rolled down, and she was staring at me like I was crazy. At first I didn't recognize her, I mean, after all, I usually get girls staring at me (like Im crazy), but then it hit. Not only did I know this girl, but we used to be really close (obviously).

I remember when we broke up. It was really hard for me. To go from something that seemed so right six months before to no longer talking was a tough pill to swallow. I remember bargaining with God, telling him that I would be a better son if He would bring her back. I tried reading my bible, I tried praying, heck, I even joined a small group. I may have done all of this for the wrong reasons, but God knew that. I had tried my three or four step process to get what I wanted, and it didn't work.

Even now, I sometimes have problems with the, "God, you do this for me, and ill do this for you." statement. Loving God for God is not always easy for me. I will lay in bed and pray at night that God will show me what he wants from me, so I can be a better son. He usually listens, but rarely responds to that statement. I know I have seen God as a means to get what I want in the past, and am trying to see it differently now.

I guess the greatest thing about it is that God knows what is best for me. He knows what ultimate happiness is. I honestly dont think that while Jesus was on this earth, he was sharing three steps to happiness. If he was, what a way to end; allow the Romans to torture and crucify you.. Then you will be ultimately happy. But, isn't that what it is all about. don't we live our lives to give them up for the glory of God?

When life is hard for me, I find that worship songs help me. I can lay in bed and sing to myself, or I can scream them at the top of my lungs in the truck. This morning in church, we sang, "Not to us, but to YOUR name be the glory". It really isn't about me, but it is about God. There are times when I get ticked at him, but I find my best times are in fellowship with Him or His followers.

I know this may have been some rambling, but I hope you see the point, and ultimately are challenged to look at God for God instead of a list of what you want.

Peace out Napoleon...

Saturday, March 8, 2008

Shake hands with the devil..

Men cry, but real men are not afraid to let others know when they cry.. Last night, I cried.

I went to Rwanda the end of last August and September. It literally changed my life. Rwanda went through a genocide in 1994. I got back, and immediately bought the book, "Shake hands with the devil." This book was written by the U.N. General stationed in Rwanda during the time, Romeo Dallaire.

I have had the hardest time reading it, because it moves so slow. Well, last night I was channel surfing after the gym, and I came across the documentary of the book. I couldn't move to it quick enough.

Watching what the people of Rwanda went through was heart breaking. The footage didn't show the people being killed, but it did show the machete's being lowered, and the bodies after. It was terrible to see what people do to each other.

So, all this to say that it is going to be on again. On March 20th, at nine thirty, it is going to be one again. I will be watching it. Nine thirty is late for me, but I dont care, I will be watching. Please call me if you want to see this too. It will give you a much larger appreciation of what they went through.

Friday, March 7, 2008

Problems Paying attention

Well, I have been diagnosed!!

I now have HGTV

I cant pay attention...

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Un-Bake times 10...

For those of you who don't know, I have nieces and nephews. The first niece I had (I wasn't the father, but hopefully you know what I mean) has the name of Jaedyn. When Jaedyn was first able to start talking, I was her favorite uncle (maybe because we happen to have the same maturity?). She would always call me Un-Bake. Basically, she couldn't say uncle or Blake, so I happen to be un-bake. It didn't bother me at all.

Well, as of 11:37-ish yesterday, I am now an uncle again. My steph brother josh and his wife trina had their child. A little boy named seth. So, if My count is correct, I now have 10 nieces and nephews..

Jaedyn, Samantha, Nathaniel, Kylie, Brooklyn, Tristian, Bethany, Ethan, Aubrey, and Seth...

What is so sad, is that while I love all of them dearly, I wouldn't bet my life that I got all their names right.. Heck, when nathaniel was first born, I could have sworn that his name started with a W. So, needless to say, my small group of the time called him Wathaniel. Funny people they are..

Playing with kids makes me incredibly happy. I guess one of the things I enjoy most is them laughing. And since un-bake is the coolest uncle, he makes them laugh often. Something about pure joy, I guess.

That got me thinking. Lately, I have been incredibly happy, or even joyful. When I notice something, I like to look at the happenings behind the new realization. Here is what I have discovered.

1) I love the sun. I think one of the best things about the valley is the fact that the sun shines almost all year. I love light, I love the warmth of the sun. I just enjoy being out there.
2) When God works on your heart, it sucks. He changes who you are in your core, and its hard to change, but the end result is pure, and more centered on Christ.
3) Along with God working on your heart, another result is confidence in where you are. For instance, I know God ultimately has everything in my life under control. Whether it be work or personal, He has only the best for me, and that is a relief.
4) I feed off of other people, and lately, the people I have been dealing with at work have been happy. So when they see my bright and smiling face, they can't help but smile, which makes me smile... so on and so forth.

I am still a work in progress, and always will be. But there is something very comforting about knowing that you are headed in the right direction. It is contagious..

Sunday, March 2, 2008

inundate the update

inundate may not have a major place in this blog, but at the same point, I get tired of the title, "update". So there ya go!

Today is the first day where I start running sound again for church. I will run third service today, next week, and every other week thereafter. I got volunteered to run a WOW JAM thingy at the end of the month, but it doesn't bother me. I enjoy sound, and I enjoy helping my friends, so its a win win situation.

I also sent an e mail out to the person in charge of life groups. If you remember from a previous post, I had signed up to be a leader. Well, nothing has happened with that (just as much my fault as others). I got challenged last night, and sent the letter this morning.

I have been dragging my feet. I dont know if it is because as soon as it starts, I wont have time, or because of inadequacy. I really feel like satan is trying to jack with my life right now. The last two weeks have been hectic (see hecticizm), and they dont seem like they are going to slow down.

But on the bright side, I will soon have a new mind to "mold". I was talking to my boss on friday, and letting him know how I am just drowning at work. I asked if I could have an intern to help me out, and he gave me the heads up. I had one that I talked to at the Fresno State Recruiting fair on thursday, and will bring him in for an interview. Hopefully it works out.

I honestly dont know why they (Lyles) lets me out in public. I know Im a kick in the shorts, but I may not be the best person for recruiting. But it was at least fun. I couldn't believe myself... By the end of the fair, I didn't want to talk. I just wanted to sit in silence. And I did.

this next week continues the business... I am going to try and set up a couple dinner dates with some buddies, but we will see. Hopefully it works out.

One thing to think about: I was perusing the yellow pages last week, and came across the bridge contact information... As Im sure you may know, the Bridge has a deaf church, which is awesome. But what I dont understand is that the advertisement had a phone number with it... How on earth are deaf people supposed to use the phone?